Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus – Chapter 24

Author: LyraDhani

“Oh, look at that. It keeps catching it on screen. There’s Joo Wooyoung glaring at you again, Unha.”

While watching the broadcast together, I heard No. 123’s voice filled with dissatisfaction.

“Why does he keep glaring? It’s so ridiculous, right?”

‘No. 123, why on earth are you even here? Go watch it in your own dorm. Why are you doing this in ours?’

He was talking so much that my ears were starting to ache. Most of it was just him scolding Joo Wooyoung. I knew he wasn’t particularly fond of Joo Wooyoung, but I never imagined he’d harbor this much resentment toward him.

As far as I remembered, the two of them barely had any interaction, yet he just kept badmouthing Joo Wooyoung with burning intensity.

The fact that he kept calling him ‘Joo Wooyoung’ instead of ‘Wooyoung hyung’, especially in this land of strict etiquette, showed his hostility was no joke.

“He’s probably just jealous that you might stand out more than him. Both of you said your dream is to be the world’s best K-pop idol, right? But since it looks like the judges are more interested in you, his emotions are taking over.”

“……”

“Judge Benok asked you more questions, too, didn’t he? I’m sure he took that personally. I knew he’d be like this. It’s a good thing the cameras caught all of it. He’s going to get so much hate online, right?”

‘What exactly goes through this guy’s head every day?’

[Trainee No. 123 Jung Taehee: Waaaaah… sob… sob…]

“Ah, that’s so embarrassing. I look so ugly when I cry… Oh, look! Unha, your crying scene is coming out too.”

“Oh? You’re right.”

I saw my own face on screen, looking as if I had been synchronized with No. 123’s sobbing. I was worried I’d look too fake, but fortunately, it was captured well.

“This is crazy, right?”

I had no idea what was ‘crazy’ about it, but I just nodded.

Meanwhile, more and more trainees continued to appear. Unfortunately, most were appearing for only about 10 seconds before being edited out.

In fact, Trainee No. 123 was one of the lucky ones. Because he poured out genuine tears, he secured screen time. Other trainees were being edited down with a cruelty that was almost artistic. In many cases, they appeared for exactly one second before vanishing—essentially giving them no chance to show their character or image.

It was an unavoidable choice for the editors who wanted to finish the introductions in Episode 1, but it was still a huge shock to the participants.

Trainee No. 78, who suffered a ‘3-second cut,’ was currently staring at the screen with a hollow expression. It was a stark contrast to No. 123, who was smiling brightly—likely pleased that he had secured his airtime.

“Should I have cried too?”

‘No, No. 78, it wouldn’t have worked even if you did.’

In Episode 1, about 10 trainees were spotlighted, around 30 were mentioned decently, and the rest were essentially cut down to the second. Those who got to show their performances properly were also the lucky ones. It seemed those who failed the Slave Auction didn’t even appear at all.

As expected, my screen time was…

‘They gave me much more than I expected.’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say I was top-tier. I seemed to have received the same amount of screen time as the 7 members of the Nobility class, maybe even more. Even more than trainees from major agencies or the younger brother of a famous idol group’s visual member—the nobody Lee Unha was the biggest beneficiary of Episode 1.

Even after the stage ended, the spotlight stayed on me.

“Oh?! Unha, you’re on again.”

“Yeah.”

‘Even so… aren’t they pushing me a little too hard? Am I going to get hated for this?’

[Caption: What are Trainee Joo Wooyoung’s true thoughts?]

[Trainee No. 111 Joo Wooyoung: It felt like they were just doing exactly what they practiced… it felt mediocre.]

“Unbelievable. Look at Joo Wooyoung talking like that, Unha.”

[Caption: Trainee Joo Wooyoung begins to watch Trainee Lee Unha intently.]

[Trainee No. 111 Joo Wooyoung: But… I think Unha was special.]

“Oh….”

Apparently they’d even filmed an interview I knew nothing about, because another recorded voice-over played.

[Trainee No. 111 Joo Wooyoung: He kept catching my eye. I think he’s the trainee with the highest potential… I naturally assumed he’d be in the <Nobility> class… I was a bit shocked when he wasn’t.]

“Ah….”

At this point, even No. 123 had nothing to say and just swallowed hard. This time, the camera caught a shot of me looking at Joo Wooyoung.

[Trainee No. 112 Lee Unha: The world’s best K-pop idol. I thought he was someone like the sun.]

‘They are really serving up this narrative on a silver platter.’

While No. 123 stayed quiet, the thug No. 98 finally spoke up.

“Man, I’m jealous. F*ck. You must have really impressed the writers and PDs. Some people only got a 3-second cut….”

Then, No. 123 whispered in my ear.

“What the hell? What’s up with that guy, Unha?”

“He’s just saying that because he’s disappointed. He’s a nicer guy than he looks, so you don’t have to be so wary.”

“I mean… still….”

“I’m jealous, Lee Unha. F*ck… so jealous! I want to devour screen time and skyrocket too! F*ck!”

“Hey, I’m sure you’ll be spotlighted next time, hyung. You know, that scene where you were crying up a storm? When you survived the Slave Auction? I bet that will definitely make it to the broadcast. You have that fierce gaze, looking like you have no blood or tears—a thug-like image—so you crying like that….”

“Who said I was crying my eyes out? It wasn’t that bad….”

“Still, getting on air like that is a good thing, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah. Looking at it this way, I guess getting on screen no matter what is the best thing. F*ck. I wonder if anyone will even remember my name.”

“I bet at least a few people will. You looked really handsome even in that brief shot.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You were squeezed in between other trainees, but your side profile was like a sculpture. You have a high nose bridge, hyung. That’s why your profile….”

“Well… I do have a decent nose.”

“You didn’t get surgery, right?”

“No surgery. Feel it yourself.”

“No, I don’t think I need to go that far. Anyway, hyung, try to cut back on the swearing. It’s a habit. What are you going to do if you curse in front of a camera or fans later?”

“Well….”

The broadcast came to an end while we were chatting. The ending was, as expected:

[MC: We will now reveal the Class-based Competition Missions!]

[Class Mission: <Nobility> Coin Competition]

[Class Mission: <Commons> Citizen War]

[Class Mission: <Slave> Class Auction]

[All Trainees: UWOOOOOOOOOOOAHHH!!]

‘Right. I knew it would end like this.’

Ending with a forced roar of cheers from the trainees after they checked their assigned missions was the textbook move. They could have pushed further and cut at a more provocative scene, but it seemed they couldn’t fit any more into the packed Episode 1.

Instead, they probably put all their effort into the preview for Episode 2.

And immediately, the next week’s preview began. As expected, it was a total aggro fest. They had crammed every possible provocative scene into a two-minute window, making it feel almost more entertaining than the actual episode. It even showed footage from the other classes that we hadn’t seen before.

[Caption: The Class-based Competition Missions finally begin in earnest.]

[Caption: Three classes. Three missions. Which trainees will survive?]

[Footage of Nobility trainees doing group choreography.]

[Trainee No. 4 Jegal Hwi: I think of this as a competition against myself. I’m confident I’ll take 1st place.]

[Trainee No. 55 Baek Suhyeon: Everyone is so good, I’m worried.]

[Trainee No. 111 Joo Wooyoung: It’s fun. Practicing all together like this definitely helps more.]

Clips of the stiff but skilled-looking Nobles passed by quickly.

[Footage of Commons trainees practicing a performance.]

[Trainee No. 53 Han Manje: Get out! I said get out!]

[Trainee No. 53 Han Manje: Is that right? Let’s get our heads in the game.]

[Trainee No. 101 Jung Byungtae: I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to. Sob…]

[Trainee No. 66 Jeon Hochul: This place is basically a war zone. I seriously feel like I’m going to die…]

The Commoner class looked like a total mess even at a glance. Next was our Slave class.

[Footage of Slave class trainees gathered together.]

[Tense BGM]

[Trainee No. 11 Im Hyuk: Waaaaaah…]

[Trainee No. 98 Kim Taeyeol: Sh*t… sob…]

[Trainee No. 71 Hong Junghan: I want to drop out. Ugh…]

[Trainee No. 81 Song Haeyeop: Hic… what is this… sob…]

[Trainee No. 71 Hong Junghan: What do they want us to do? What the hell are we supposed to do here?]

‘Wait. Why aren’t they showing our performance video?’

[Staff 1: Lee Unha fell! I think he hit his head!]

[Staff 2: Medical team!]

[Trainee No. 141 Park Deokoh: I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… Unha… hic… waaaaah… ugh…]

[Trainee No. 141 Park Deokoh: I—I’m sorry… truly… sob…]

[Shot of Lee Unha receiving treatment surrounded by staff.]

[Shot of Trainee No. 123 glaring venomously at Trainee No. 141.]

[Shot of Trainee No. 141 continuing to cry.]

‘Seriously. This is pure soap opera.’

[An angry Benok: Seriously, Hyung!!! Making a show is fine! But you have to draw a line!]

Even the furious Benok was used as bait. It seemed the PD had sacrificed even himself for the ratings.

I thought it felt like soap opera while we were filming, but seeing the editing be this blatantly provocative left me speechless.

No. 45 spoke up cautiously with a sour face.

“Well… it’ll be interesting to watch. Looking back, we really were a mess, weren’t we?”

No. 98 chimed in immediately.

“I made it into the preview too. Like Unha said, they only caught me crying… but anyway, I’m in there.”

No. 78, who didn’t even make it into the preview, looked like he was still in shock. However, I could see a spark of stubborn defiance in his eyes.

It wasn’t just No. 78. I could see an unidentifiable yearning filling the faces of the entire Hopeless Trio. Seeing themselves on the screen seemed to make them feel a lot of things. They clearly realized where they currently stood, and more than that, they seemed to want to flip that situation around.

“Let’s read the reactions a bit later. For now… let’s practice.”

At No. 78’s words, No. 123 whispered again.

“The practice room is closed right now.”

“We can practice here.”

“Huh? Oh! But… what about Joo Wooyoung?”

“Wooyoung hyung doesn’t know. He’d be mad if he knew we were practicing secretly like this.”

No. 123 stared with his mouth open as No. 98 and No. 45 lifted the beds and pushed them to one side.

“I’m going to f*cking tear up the stage and crush Joo Wooyoung. Just watch.”

‘There goes No. 98 saying that again.’

“I’ll help too. Is there anything I can do?”

‘No. 123, why aren’t you practicing your own stuff? Why are you still here?’

“Oh! Then could you help with Wooyoung’s part? You don’t need to do the choreo. Just help us with the formation.”