“It’s me, the one who composed the third song.”
After my bombshell remark, the members and company staff were truly shocked, flipping out like something straight out of a cartoon.
“Why didn’t you tell us that until now!”
“It’s a blind test. If you figure out that I composed it, then all the effort the staff put into hiding that would be pointless. You guys would choose mine regardless of the song.”
“No. I will evaluate it with a cold, objective eye. In the world of Pantheion, nepotism doesn’t work. Only the strong survive. I cannot tolerate the humiliation of being seen as despicable mongrels.”
“Yeah, right. You probably would have chosen it while saying, ‘Oh, it’s Leada’s song’.”
Before the surprise could even fully fade, Do Yuda and Zen clung to me and complained. It seemed they were quite upset that I had kept the song a secret until the end without giving them any hint.
“Did Nicholas-hyung know? He didn’t seem surprised when you finally told us at the end.”
“Who knows. I didn’t tell him.”
“It’s stranger not to notice it when you move your lips like that. You were always busy on your own.”
“…….”
To interpret, he instinctively sensed I was up to something when he saw me wandering around alone, and right when he felt something was strange after hearing the song, he caught me smirking.
No, I just smiled a little because it was so cute how he chose my song right away, like a loyal puppy following its owner. There’s no need to be so sharp about it. I snorted and erased Lee Hwayoung’s remark from my head.
“Still, that’s amazing, hyung. The A&R team said they sorted through an insane number of candidates that made them want to vomit, and yet yours ended up being chosen as the title track! Hyung, you’re seriously so cool.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
As I brushed my fingertip along the tip of my nose, listening to Do Yuda’s compliment, Lee Hwayoung’s voice was heard again from behind.
“The corners of your mouth.”
I returned to my usual expressionless expression as if nothing had happened, and busily began the part distribution.
The song was composed with my members in mind from the beginning, so I didn’t have too much difficulty with the part distribution. But that’s just the part distribution, not the actual recording itself.
“I’m pretty sure this high-note ad-lib wasn’t in the demo. Is my memory playing tricks on me?”
“Ah, that’s right. You have a good memory. Not that it matters.”
See? There’s already someone whining about it.
Time passed, and today was finally the day of recording. I was in the middle of happily ignoring the sound of Do Yuda’s screams coming through the microphone in the recording studio.
“This, just thinking about doing it live is already making me feel dizzy….”
“Just record it and replace it with AR on stage.”
“…I don’t want to.”
“Okay.”
“…You said that knowing I’d say I’d do it live anyway, right?”
“Yup.”
“You know me too well, hyung. You’re really the worst. I’m sure I’ll meet my end in this square room.”
“Sing from I am yours again.”
“Now, you don’t even pretend to listen.”
Since I had gained such a luxurious vocal lineup, I planned to squeeze every bit of their soul and pour it all into the song. Did you know? Originally, the more you suffer, the better the result. I definitely didn’t do this out of revenge for all the trouble they caused me on the day we decided our concept positions.
I calmly said to Do Yuda, who was howling and scratching the soundproof wall like a little puppy, “You’re still a yangban1. Kiryang-hyung got up since the crack of dawn to record the guide, so don’t act arrogant in front of him.”
“As expected, there was already a victim. Such a vicious person.”
Just as Do Yuda had said, on the sofa behind me, Baek Kiryang was sprawled out in an exhausted state, his hair all ruffled up. At first glance, he looked like he might be dead, but the occasional twitch showed that he wasn’t quite there yet.
‘Baek Kiryang really worked hard redoing the guide track.’
In order to make the demo song easier for the members, who were still vocal novices, to follow, Baek Kiryang went to the recording studio early in the morning and re-recorded all of the guide vocals. It must have been quite tough, but thanks to his efforts, the results produced by Woo Kangwon and Zen during the recording dramatically improved, proving that it was worth the struggle.
One might think that it would be nice if Do Yuda or Lee Hwayoung helped out, but that would make recording a separate guide vocal pointless and inefficient. Plus, those two have such unique vocal styles and voices that I felt the members might get influenced during the main recording. Baek Kiryang was the only one who could accurately replicate my desired sound as soon as he heard my explanation.
“Should I make the guide a bit more detailed? That way, it might be easier for Zen or Kangwon hyung to sing……”
I was so lucky that the guy who was perfect for the role volunteered first.
Of course, even if he hadn’t suggested it first, he would have done it by the time I came to my senses.
‘If it weren’t for the blind test, I would have given the task to Baek Kiryang from the start. It’s really convenient when there’s someone in the group who knows how to read sheet music properly.’
Watching Baek Kiryang effortlessly recording the guide track, I naturally thought of Seo Yuseong.
‘Prism originally did all their activities with my songs without any blind tests, so Seo Yuseong was the one who recorded the guide vocals.’
Given Prism’s reputation as a self-producing idol group, we were expected to handle all the preparations ourselves. And at that time, I, who had even less social skills than I do now, strongly opposed the idea of hiring external guide vocalists and entrusted all the guide vocal duties to Seo Yuseong.
“At first, I gave the task to Seo Yuseong simply because I didn’t want to interact with strangers, but the members became so accustomed to Seo Yuseong’s guides that we had no choice but to continue using him.”
The perception that Seo Yuseong was the obvious choice for our guide vocals became so ingrained in the members’ minds that they naturally expected his participation whenever I composed a new song.
As I was reminiscing about the past and smiling a little, a question suddenly popped into my head.
‘Come to think of it, the two demo songs that Cha Woon played for us on Survive IDOL didn’t have Seo Yuseong’s voice in them. Why was that?’
As I searched my memory, I realized that the voice in the demo tracks belonged to someone who was paid and specialized in receiving requests for singing guide vocals.
‘Did they have a fight or something like that?’
That was the first suspicion that crossed my mind.
But then I shook my head, realizing that it couldn’t possibly be true.
No matter how much they fought, it was impossible to believe that those guys, who treated work as work, would bring their personal conflicts into workplace. There had to be some other issue at play.
‘Well, Jay doesn’t care about Cha Woon, so he probably doesn’t know, and it’s not like I can just ask Cha Woon directly, with this junior’s body, if they had a fight.’
While I was resting my chin on my hand, lost in thought, Do Yuda, who had been babbling nonsense, suddenly made a dead-eyed expression and shoved his face into the recording studio’s camera.
“Confining someone in here while you’re off thinking about other things is such an infuriating act. I won’t forgive you.”
Ah, sorry.
***
After wrapping up the recording, we spent our time preparing for the stage and filming for the reality program. Today was the day the channel for the reality program was launched, and the teaser was being released.
Two minutes before the teaser was dropped, the Pantheion residence was buzzing with anticipation.
“I’m really nervous. My family is probably waiting for it together while holding hands. They couldn’t watch the survival program because it was too heartbreaking for them.”
“Something like, like … unlike the survival program, don’t you feel like, ‘Wow, I’m really a person on TV now‘? Wow, wow. This is amazing. Amazing….”
“Yu-chan, you’re so excited that you’re speaking weird. As a foreigner, I’m superior.”
“You’re not even in the same league as Nicholas-hyung. It’s really embarrassing to hear something like that from Nagi Zen.”
The members, unable to hide their nervousness, anxiously chatted, and as soon as the clock on the screen showed 7:59, they started refreshing the page like crazy.
The moment the digital clock changed to 8:00, a teaser video page appeared on the screen.
As Do Yuda quickly clicked on it, the video started with upbeat music, and a vibrant designed title appeared in the center.
[Panthei OFF]
[“Hello, we are Pantheion!”]
Our loud group greeting was followed by a rapid montage of slightly awkward, real-life moments, which seemed like an intentional attempt to create a vibe similar to the opening of a family sitcom.
[Woo Kangwon]
After that, the video introducing each member began.
There was a scene of him exercising since dawn, followed by a moment where he failed to control his strength while cracking an egg and ended up completely destroying the shell, then the image switched to him lifting Nagi Zen and Do Yuda, who were running around wildly, with them tucked under his arms.
[Baek Kiryang]
Baek Kiryang’s introduction began with him falling down alone on a path with no obstacles. The scene quickly transitioned to him sneaking around, running away, and going through all sorts of hardships. The last was the moment when all the other members left the table and he was left alone with Lee Hwayoung, chewing on a piece of bread soaked in tears.
[Nicholas Hwayoung Lee]
The scenes of Lee Hwayoung appeared one after another. One where he sat alone on a chair drinking coffee while the other members were rolling around on the floor, another where he angrily stabbed the food with chopsticks before giving up and switching to a fork, and one where he followed me around with an expressionless face. The final shot was of him glaring directly at the camera, marking the end of his segment.
[Han Seungbeom]
My part began with me standing with my arms crossed, scolding Zen and Do Yuda who were kneeling in front of me. I had done this so many times that it was hard to tell which memory it was from. Following that, there were shots of me leading all kinds of practices and meetings with a stern expression. The segment ended with me making eye contact with the camera and flashing a dazzling, broadcast-ready smile.
[Do Yuda]
Do Yuda’s scenes started with him hiding in a corner, scrolling through his phone. As the camera quickly followed behind him, a text he had sent appeared, “Mom, I’m a celebrity now. Isn’t that awesome?“, and the reply he received from his mother, “Stop fooling around and just eat your meal“. Then, the camera showed Do Yuda’s face, shedding tears while giving a thumbs up.
[Nagi Zen]
Zen first appeared in a scene where he was trying on all sorts of weird accessories in a department store, only to be dragged out by the nape of his neck by me. Then, there was a scene where he was blabbering away with his mouth covered in mosaics, and the surrounding members and production staff were all devastated. I remembered what that scene was about, but I decided to keep my mouth shut for the sake of Zen’s image.
[Lee Danbi]
Then, after a scene where Do Yuda and Zen rolled around on the bed side by side, another scene followed where Lee Danbi joined them and the three of them rolled around together.
I was dumbfounded to see Lee Danbi participating in those fools’ parade. When I turned to look at him with wide eyes, he covered his face and avoided my gaze, looking a little embarrassed.
‘Now he’s finally acting like the youngest. Thanks to Do Yuda and Zen, it seems like some of his compulsions have lessened a bit.‘
While I was chuckling a bit at Lee Danbi’s change, a scene appeared where Lee Danbi, with his bird’s nest hairstyle, was going around waking up the members in his pajamas. Then, as soon as all the members were gathered, the camera angle went up towards the ceiling.
When the camera angle came down again, the members, who had finished dressing up for their profile photoshoot and were ready in their ‘idol‘ mode, appeared and waved.
[“Please show lots of love for PantheiOFF!”]
“It hasn’t been long since we started filming our reality show, but it seems like the production team already understands our personalities so well. Awesome!”
“I’m so curious about how the fans will react.”
The members started talking about how much they liked the teaser video in excited voices.
I left the excited members behind and immediately logged into SNS to check the fans’ reactions. As soon as I did, I noticed that real-time keywords were completely dominated by talk about our reality program.
[PANTHEIOFF]
[Pantheion Reality]
[Baek Kiryang Abuse]
[Daddy Kangwon]
[Pat and Mat]
[Captain’s Visual]
[British Coffee]
Most of these weren’t too far off from what I expected, so it was fine.
However, I couldn’t help but shut my eyes tightly when I scrolled down and saw scary keywords that were rising with terrifying speed.
[Han Seungbeom Golden Spoon]
[Pajamas 5 million won]
….I knew this would happen, f*ck.
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Translator’s Corner:
I want to watch the reality show … asking God once again why they’re not real …
And yes the reality show order is done by age. It’s Woo Kangwon > Baek Kiryang > Nicholas & Han Seungbeom > Do Yuda & Nagi Zen > Lee Danbi. At this point, both Nicholas and Han Seungbeom just came of age (becoming an adult, they’re 20 years old in korean age standard, so 19 (or 18 for some case) years old in international age), while Yuda Zen Danbi are still minors.
Nicholas and Seungbeom is considered the same-age, but if you look at the year alone, Nicholas is born 1 year earlier than Seungbeom, that’s why he said he was “born earlier” in few chapters back when they had converstion after Kangwon’s scandal. But Seungbeom was born on January, so he was considered a “fast birth” or 빠른 생일. The Korean school year usually starts in March, so back then (I think they already changed the law now?? idk), the January and February-born people can enter school early, that’s why they will be considered as a part of the age group of the previous year rather than the age group of their birth year. (But Han Seungbeom didn’t start school early that’s why he graduated when he was 19.). But still, since he was born in January, he was still considered to have “early birthdays” and in the “social age” system, he was lumped into the year above his birth year.
This story started in November, when Han Seungbeom was still 19 years old. The survival show filming began on the early following year. That’s why when MC asked the father to sign the contract, he said the agency is willing to wait because it’s just two-three months until he became an adult (20 years old in korean age) and wouldn’t need parental consent anymore. He could wait, but he needed the father to sign right away so he could move out of the house asap. This was also the reason why the MC considered the original Han Seungbeom as “a minor“, because he took over his body few months before the OG Han Seungbeom reached adult age.
Ah, if you still didn’t understand and wondered “why they used to enter school early?“, that’s because Koreans used to follow the Lunar calendar. You know how Lunar New Year is different from the usual new year we celebrated at 31st December right? That’s because Lunar calendar is behind the Gregorian calendar, the calendar we mainly used. Korean social age system used to be determined using Chinese zodiac, and since the Chinese zodiac follows the Lunar calendar, people born in January or February could have different animal signs than others born from March to December. Like this year is The Year of Dragon, started from 10 February 2024 until 28 January 2025. The people born in 9 February 2024 will have the same Chinese zodiac with the people born in 2023. Same chinese zodiac period = same age.
In K-POP, there’s a famous story where Jackson (who’s a foreigner) from GOT7 asked why he needs to call Jay B with “hyung” even though they both born in 1994 (Jay B January, Jackson March). He said, “And I understand that this is a school thing, if they get into school first then you have to call them hyung. But we didn’t go to the same school! So why? I’m a foreigner as well.”. It’s really funny.
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