Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 84

Kyeongnam

 

[Title: Did anyone see Kim Taeyeol just now? Why is he suddenly so good?]

[Author: lol] [Views: 18,213]

[Unha is definitely smart.]

 

[Anon: Agree with OP! Lee Unha is seriously smart. I was seriously blown away by this performance. Honestly, Lee Unha and Joo Wooyoung have always been so good that I just took it for granted, but I thought Kim Taeyeol was literally possessed. Everyone who saw the stage will agree.]

 

[lol: Taeyeol is my bias, so I’m so happy T_T Since he has such a thug face, I was worried he’d be misunderstood TTT Sure enough, some weird controversy broke out and I thought I’d lose my mind from frustration, but he’s finally getting rewarded TTTT For the record, our Taeyeol never did school bullying. He doesn’t even smoke. I’m so glad he’s finally being highlighted TTTTTT]

 

[Anon: What are the antis gonna do now? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋKim Taeyeol was the only thing they could attack ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

[Pros/Cons-User: Did we all even watch the same performance? Kim Taeyeol? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I could only see Lee Unha and Joo Wooyoung. And did you forget that because of smart Lee Unha, Joo Wooyoung was the only one who got scolded by the judges? People keep pushing this ‘Joo Wooyoung and Lee Woonha are one unit’ narrative, but in the end, only Joo Wooyoung suffered ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why does it always look like Lee Unha is the only one benefiting? Like OP said, Unha is smart. ^^]

 

It was the week after the episodes up to Episode 7 had aired.

 

After checking the weekly ranking posts, I clicked on the ‘Pros/Cons’ replies and felt the traces of a fierce battle.

 

[lol: There’s still someone saying this? Go ahead, keep trying to drive a wedge between them. Wooyoung and Unha met up yesterday and filmed a challenge together~]

 

[Anon: Can’t you bring up something else? This is getting old. They had to change the roles because the kid literally went off in an ambulance from overwork, and Joo Wooyoung said he didn’t regret it so what’s your problem? Can’t you just support them?]

 

‘It really does feel like they’re forcing reasons to attack him, doesn’t it?’

 

No matter how I looked at it, the criticism felt forced.

 

‘Joo Wooyoung’s team had unavoidable circumstances, and Wooyoung made the best decision possible… honestly, if they hadn’t done that, it would’ve been hard to produce such a high-quality performance.’

 

Of course, it was not that I couldn’t understand the judges’ evaluation. The problem wasn’t Lee Unha taking the Dark Mage role. The problem was the way the performance was created and the way the team was managed. In a team that should have been managed with Joo Wooyoung at the center, the performance was completed with Lee Unha’s idea, and Lee Unha took the lead role—that was what was perceived as an issue.

 

‘Wait, is it even right to see that as a problem?’

 

If Joo Wooyoung’s goal was to lead the team while maximizing the members’ strengths, then he had fully achieved it. Regardless, Joo Wooyoung’s team survived, and as a result, they created a performance that would remain in everyone’s memory.

 

‘If that’s not success, then what is?’

 

Feeling as though I’d reached a conclusion, I nodded to myself.

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

Then, suddenly… I reflected on myself.

 

‘Wait, why am I….’

 

“…….”

 

‘Why am I thinking and evaluating this so seriously?’

 

Even I couldn’t understand myself. Even if my sister was one of the producers for this show….

 

‘I never thought I’d get this invested.’

 

At first, I’d only watched the program a few times with my sister because it was so popular. The fact that I could get free chicken if I hung around her was also a big part of it. Of course, while watching Idol Classism, I’d secretly found it entertaining… Even so, I never imagined I’d become this absorbed in it.

 

I was repeating the same habits I had whenever I got obsessed with something. My tendency to possess the soul of a judge and pretend to be a cold-blooded analyst had begun to activate.

 

‘W-Well, it’s fun, so whatever.’

 

“……Yeah. As long as it’s fun.”

 

Whatever the case, it was entertaining, so that was enough. Putting everything else aside, this content was so addictive I couldn’t stand it. Every single day brought a flood of new clues and discussion topics, and major incidents just kept happening one after another. Each episode generated new controversies, new things to think about, and new topics guaranteed to spark arguments.

 

In fact, I had even set myself up as a content creator, so that alone said a lot about the show.

 

I opened NewTube and accessed my channel.

 

[Glasses TV] [Subscribers: 11.2K]

[<Idol Classism> Analysis! How Lee Unha’s pick, Kim Taeyeol, proved himself (Detail warning)]

[Glasses TV]

[<Idol Classism> Domino Stage Analysis. 23 Reasons Why It Was Better With Lee Unha as the Dark Mage]

 

The videos, modest but racking up respectable view counts, filled my screen. I already had 10,000 subscribers; what started as a hobby of cutting and editing videos for fun had grown into a serious thing.

 

Of course, since I was using various clips and photos without permission, I hadn’t applied for monetization, but regardless of profit, there was something deeply satisfying about having a growing space where I could express my own thoughts.

 

‘Now, what should I make today?’

 

Unfortunately, I had already used up everything I could from the Dark Mage stage. Kim Taeyeol, who had once been the hottest topic of controversy, had been completely redeemed by the latest episode. In fact, he didn’t even need a separate video. Anyone who saw that stage with their own two eyes would quickly realize how stupid it was to doubt him.

 

The video most likely to get views right now would be….

 

“Maybe Joo Wooyoung’s critique… but honestly, that’s almost all settled now.”

 

Additionally:

 

“Touching Joo Wooyoung or Lee Unha doesn’t get a good reaction anyway.”

 

More importantly, I had to stay one step ahead of everyone else. The pace of Idol Classism was incredibly fast. Two episodes a week that looked as though the production staff had poured their very souls into them, with new incidents, controversies, and scandals erupting nonstop every episode. There was no need to revisit old topics.

 

‘Hmm… should I make something about the Follower Mission?’

 

“No. It probably wouldn’t get much of a reaction. There wasn’t much to speculate about during the Follower Mission.”

 

I had already milked the Episode 6 Territory War Friday broadcast for all it was worth, so I wondered if I should focus on Follower Mission Saturday broadcast, but I immediately shook my head. There was a reason I hadn’t highlighted the Follower mission until now.

 

The Jung Taehee vs. Kim Haejun showdown had happened around Episode 7, midway through the Follower Mission, but that issue had already run its course. I couldn’t exactly upload a video analyzing their fighting skills now. It would definitely attract clicks, but it was far from the kind of content I wanted my channel to be known for.

 

‘Or should I highlight Kim Haejun?’

 

The idea felt a bit interesting.

 

‘Should I highlight the reason why Lee Unha picked Kim Haejun?’

 

Nothing had been revealed about the next mission yet, but I had a strong feeling that Lee Unha and Kim Haejun would be in the same group. They did the courage test together in the Follower mission, and more importantly….

 

‘Every trainee Unha had picked was someone he’d already shared the stage with at least once.’

 

Joo Wooyoung and Kim Taeyeol during Territory War.

 

Jung Taehee during the Slave Auction.

 

Looking at the other trainees who frequently appeared on his SNS, most of them were people he had performed with. The exception was Baek Suhyeon, whom he hadn’t performed with yet… But since they had belonged to the same agency, they had probably spent plenty of time practicing together.

 

‘Lee Unha is smart.’

 

Yes. He was smart. There was no way he would promote a trainee on his SNS if he hadn’t performed with them or didn’t know if they were compatible.

 

After organizing my thoughts, I immediately opened Notepad and started writing a script. Of course, I had to decide on a title first.

 

[Glass TV]

[SHOCKING!!! <Idol Classism>! Reasons why Lee Unha and Kim Haejun are likely on the same team! Why did Unha pick Kim Haejun?]

 

It was a title that looked like it would easily break 10,000 views. The script felt satisfyingly well-written, too. After that, it was fun work time: downloading photos and videos of the two, editing them, recording my voice, and overlaying subtitles.

 

It looked like a simple job, but it wasn’t. It involved heavy color grading and editing on every photo and video. At this point, there were countless channels acting as trolls for Idol Classism, but the reason my channel was chosen by the algorithm was purely because of the quality of the background footage. I could compromise on other things, but I couldn’t compromise on that.

 

“…….”

 

How much time had passed? Just as I barely finished uploading the video in time for when my sister would come home, the digital lock chimed at the perfect moment. Then, a familiar voice pierced my ears.

 

“Hey! Ahn Kyeongnam! Didn’t I tell you to wash the dishes?”

 

“Ah! Wait, I was just about to.”

 

“Do you seriously want to die?”

 

“No, I was a bit busy today….”

 

“Busy? A brat who does nothing but play at home because of vacation is busy?”

 

“N-No, I was really busy today. Ah… that… that’s not the problem right now, noona….”

 

“What?”

 

“For the next mission, Unha and Kim Haejun are on the same team, right?”

 

“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

 

“No reason, just asking.”

 

“I told you I can’t tell you anything. Just hurry up and do the dishes if you don’t want to die.”

 

“I’m doing them right now.”

 

“I’m already in a bad mood because of overtime today. And then I come home to this mess.”

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

“B-By the way, you’ve been working overtime a lot lately.”

 

“There are only two days left until the vote. We have a lot to do.”

 

“Ahhh. Right. By the way, if we vote on Friday, can we see the rankings on Saturday?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right. Why, are you going to vote too?”

 

“Huh? Yeah, I think I will. A friend asked me to.”

 

“A girlfriend?”

 

“What ‘girlfriend’? Just a friend.”

 

“I guess there’s no way you’d have a girlfriend. Ah! Who did they ask you to vote for?”

 

“Probably Lee Unha?”

 

While we shared small talk and I did the dishes, my phone kept buzzing with NewTube notifications. The corners of my mouth crept up at the thought that the video I just posted was getting a good reaction.