The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol Chapter 28

Chapter 28

 

“Fcking shi… Ah, not that.”

For a moment, frustration got the better of me, and I almost cursed right to his face.

“Huh? Did you just swea–”

“THE BLINK.”

“…!”

‘I just threw it out there on a whim.’

The moment I mentioned the name of the club Park Sugyeok frequently visited, he visibly wavered.

“Didn’t I tell you about your relationships with women before?”

“…Just how do you even know something like that?”

“Considering how obvious you’ve been making it, it’d be stranger not to know.”

“…That’s impossible.”

“If you don’t want it getting out, then just quietly do as you’re told.”

“…”

The conflicted look on Park Sugyeok’s face was quite entertaining.

“It’s not like I’m asking you to do something difficult. It’s something an idol should be doing anyway, isn’t it?”

“Are you threatening me right now?”

“The first one to make threats was you when you said you’d quit. If you’re going to quit, at least finish this team mission properly first.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Does this look like a joke? If you want your career ruined before you even debut as an idol, keep acting like this. Otherwise, cooperate with the team quietly.”

After a brief silence, Park Sugyeok nodded.

“Ha… I’ll change.”

“Good. Glad you came to your senses.”

“…Just what exactly are you, Cha Siwoo?”

“Just an ordinary twenty-year-old Korean guy.”

“Calling yourself ordinary is a bit…”

“Hm?”

“…Never mind.”

“Then shall we head back and practice right away?”

With Park Sugyeok looking thoroughly exhausted, I led him back to the practice room.

“Everyone, Park Sugyeok is back!”

As I boldly opened the door, the eyes of the awkwardly seated team members immediately turned toward us.

“Ah…! Maybe we were too harsh earlier?”

“Sorry.”

“Welcome back, Park Sugyeok.”

Park Sugyeok stopped awkwardly halfway through the doorway.

Scratching his head and forcing a smile, I pushed him into the room.

“I got too emotional earlier. I’m sorry. I’d like to try changing the choreography positions according to the choreographer’s feedback.”

“…!”

Seeing the team members staring at him in surprise, I quickly started clapping.

“Let’s give a round of applause to Park Sugyeok for thinking about the team like this.”

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“Then, shall we all work hard until the stage where we meet the National Directors next week?”

Once we had a proper reason, I drove the team much harder without worrying about appearances.

Even the teammates who used to side with Park Sugyeok began following practice diligently after seeing how much gentler his attitude had become.

‘We’re definitely taking first place.’

 

☆☆☆

 

After watching everyone except Park Sugyeok tremble like leaves, silently begging for practice to end, I finally wrapped things up at 3 a.m.

‘I went easy on them.’

Thankfully, there weren’t any minors on our team.

If there had been minors, I would’ve forced them to sleep by ten o’clock.

After cleaning up and heading back to the dorm, I noticed a silhouette in the hallway.

‘What’s that?’

As I approached Room 207, someone was crouching in front of the door.

“Siwoo dongsaeng, you’re back?”

The moment I heard the voice, I found myself staring directly into a pair of blue eyes.

“…You didn’t go back to your room?”

“Nope.”

“Why not? What’s going on at this hour?”

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

Something he was curious about while we were alone?

“What is it?”

“Siwoo dongsaeng, what did you talk about with Park Sugyeok earlier?”

There were only cameras installed at the far ends of the dormitory hallway.

Which meant this conversation wouldn’t be aired.

“We didn’t talk about anything special.”

“I don’t know about that. His attitude changed way too much.”

“Maybe he’s just a moody person.”

“Hmmm.”

Still looking suspicious, Rua suddenly stood up.

“Alright. If that’s what you say, then I’ll believe it. And thanks!”

“For what?”

“For trusting my arrangement and convincing the composer.”

‘That’s only because I need to win first place with this stage.’

“He judged it without even seeing the performance. That’s why.”

“Hahaha.”

Rua’s bright laughter echoed through the hallway.

“The truth is, I’m pretty sensitive when it comes to music. So whenever music-related issues come up, I end up clashing with people a lot.”

‘No wonder he exploded like that.’

“Well, honestly speaking, the arrangement was good. The composer was just being stubborn. As team leader, I simply did what I had to do.”

“Even so, I wanted to thank you. You acknowledged my song and supported it.”

“Alright. Then I’ll accept the gratitude.”

“Yeah. It’s late, so I’ll head back now. Let’s practice hard again tomorrow.”

“Sure. Sleep well, hyung.”

“Wow! Did you just call me hyung?!”

“No, I didn’t. See you tomorrow, Rua hyung-nim.”

Rua’s laughter continued echoing down the hallway until I opened and closed the door to Room 207.

‘You lunatic. Laughing that loudly at 3 a.m. is going to wake everyone up.’

 

☆☆☆

 

The day before the Position Battle stage, we gathered in the auditorium once again.

“Everyone, are your preparations for the Position Battle going well?”

The PD in charge, now quite accustomed to standing on stage, raised the microphone.

“Yes.”

Exhausted from preparing for the competition, the trainees sounded far less energetic than usual.

“Judging by those voices, it sounds like things are going well. Today, we’ll be watching Episode 3 together.”

“Yeees~”

Seated with their respective teams, the trainees naturally turned their attention toward the giant screen.

“I wonder how Episode 3 was edited.”

“Hm, good question.”

Rua, seated beside me, spoke casually.

“I feel like Siwoo dongsaeng probably got edited into something funny.”

‘Do I look like some comedy character?’

“Hahaha. However, they edit it, I just hope I get a lot of screen time.”

“If it’s you, you’ll definitely get plenty.”

“I don’t think you’ll be lacking either, hyung.”

“Oh, it’s starting!”

[The trainees divided into ranks through self-introductions.]

Along with a brief recap of Episode 2, the theme song Cheer Me On began playing.

[Cheer Me On entered the real-time Top 100 charts as soon as it was released! What was the preparation process like?]

Episode 3 focused heavily on the Cheer Me On theme song.

The lessons, divided from Grade A to Grade E, definitely had a different atmosphere.

Starting with Grade E trainees getting scolded and cracking notes repeatedly, the editing progressed rank by rank.

For Grade C, Yoo Hoseung received the most focus.

[Trainee Yoo Hoseung.]

[Yes?]

[I told you to sing with diaphragmatic breathing, didn’t I? Start over from vocalization practice.]

[Yes!]

Even though he followed the trainer’s instructions, his voice wouldn’t cooperate, and eventually his eyes turned slightly red.

[Sigh… With singing skills like that, can you really become an idol?]

[…I’m sorry.]

The camera switched to Yoo Hoseung crying while struggling through practice.

“Aigoo.”

“Singing really isn’t easy.”

Aware of the cameras’ red recording lights, the trainees continued reacting enthusiastically despite their exhaustion.

The screen zooming in on Yoo Hoseung’s tears suddenly changed.

The background music became cheerful as the screen showed the vocal practice room full of Grade B trainees.

[Is there a genius trainee among the Grade Bs?]

Cheer me on, shining me on~

“…!”

[Trainees shocked by a triple high note!]

Close-ups alternated between wide-eyed trainees and Park Chaeyoung as though something extraordinary had happened.

…?

[Trainee Cha Siwoo, are you a genius?]

[No.]

[Cha Siwoo has talent.]

The atmosphere made me look like an exceptionally gifted trainee.

‘Honestly, isn’t that a bit much?’

The Grade B practice room continued with scenes of various trainees being praised.

The peaceful background music suddenly turned aggressive, and the scene switched to dance lessons.

[Is there a robot trainee among the Grade Bs?]

I appeared on screen once again.

[Trainee Cha Siwoo! Are you a rusty machine?]

[No.]

[Then are you a robot?!]

The auditorium erupted with laughter as footage of me awkwardly trying to do body waves appeared.

“Pfft…!”

“Kekekeke. Seriously, this is hilarious.”

The contrast with my serious expression while concentrating on dancing was ridiculous.

“Wow. Looking at it now, Siwoo dongsaeng, your dancing has really improved a lot.”

“Haha… I worked hard.”

[Why are you so stiff?]

[I’ll practice again.]

[Sigh… Your dancing is really a disaster.]

[I’ll work hard and apply the feedback you’ve given me.]

The conversation with the dance trainer had been edited humorously with shield-and-spear CG effects.

[You’re good at answering, at least. But why don’t you ever lose confidence, no matter what I say?]

[Why should I lose confidence over something I’m bad at? I can just work hard and learn.]

[…Forget working hard. Try doing it well instead.]

‘Wait a minute. Am I really becoming the comedy character? I should be the growth-character type.’

“Hehehe. The way you talk is too funny, Siwoo dongsaeng.”

Unaware of my inner turmoil, Rua simply laughed beside me.

The dance lesson segment seemed to end after showing Park Sugyeok and a few other Grade B trainees receiving praise.

But then the screen sped forward and showed me alone in the practice room.

[Practice continuing late into the night.]

The screen zoomed in on a clock.

[A trainee finally finishes practicing?]

The camera followed me as I moved, and then playful music started playing.

[Ah!!]

[Aah!]

[You’re my roommate, right? What are you doing here?]

“Hahaha. So you’re a scaredy-cat, Siwoo dongsaeng?”

“I’m not.”

Edited as two frightened idiots, the camera rapidly rewound.

[How did this happen?!]

A close-up showed Seo Hayul staring at me as I danced awkwardly.

“Pfft.”

“Kukuku.”

Even though the dance clip was brief, laughter could be heard everywhere.

After glancing back and forth between the clock and me, Seo Hayul disappeared before reappearing with bread, loitering outside the practice room.

[An extraordinary friendship between Grade B trainees!]

Alongside warm-hearted captions, our conversation played through the speakers.

[It looked like you skipped your meal and kept practicing. At least eat some bread while you practice.]

[Heartping…]

[I like Heartping too!]

[Haha. Thank you.]

Thanks to the editing, I had somehow become a devoted Heartping fan.

[This is the first time in my life a guy has given me bread.]

My muttering marked the end of the segment as scenes of Seo Hayul and me practicing together flashed by.

“Siwoo dongsaeng, this is discrimination! The difference in treatment between Hayul and me is huge.”

“…Haha.”

‘Is this the Grade B storyline Park Sugyeok was after?’

I got a lot of screen time, but my character image seemed to be getting weirder.

After showing the Grade B trainees’ preparation process, the episode moved on to the Grade A trainees.

Since it was filled with top students, the atmosphere was notably cheerful.

‘Isn’t that the real discrimination?’

The Grade A trainees quickly learning and dancing effortlessly was pure catharsis.

‘So that’s why they showed the E-rank trainees first.’

The editing clearly elevated the Grade A trainees.

The screen changed again, and the theme-song evaluation stage was edited as dramatically as possible.

My promotion to Grade A was presented in a way that made sense because of my dramatic improvement.

‘I got a good edit here.’

At least I’d receive fewer hate comments because of it.

Several trainees received outright evil edits before the camera zoomed in on Yoo Haein smiling innocently.

[You thought it was over, but it’s not over yet! We’ll now choose the center for the most important Cheer Me On performance!]

With Yoo Haein’s bright voice, Episode 3 came to an end.

The moment Episode 3 ended, the idol communities burst into flames once again.

 

☆☆☆