I stood frozen in place, unable to meet Jay’s gaze, nor could I avoid it. How much time must have passed as I stood there, stiff with an unshakable sense of loss and emptiness, only to eventually smile and clap along with the other cast members as if nothing had happened?
Considering that the Pantheion members didn’t find my behavior strange, it must have lasted only two or three seconds at most. A brief moment too short for anyone else to notice. But to me, that time felt like an eternity.
“Whoa!”
“Hello, sunbaenim!”
Even though I wore the same expression and acted just like everyone else in the lively surroundings, I felt like I was completely isolated and alone.
‘…Get a grip. I need to act as normal as possible.’
Just as I was silently exhaling a heavy breath, Lee Chise, with a relaxed expression, casually rested his arm on Jay’s shoulder as he gazed into the camera. Then, after exchanging brief glances with the junior members, he finally gave Jay one last, very brief glance.
“…….”
He had a smile on his lips, but his eyes held no smile
Under Lee Chise’s pressure, Jay looked momentarily reluctant but soon offered a natural, gentle smile toward the camera. Only after confirming this did Lee Chise remove his arm from Jay’s shoulder and, with the microphone in hand, begin to speak.
“Hello, our juniors. It’s a pleasure to meet you all like this. It’s really nice to see some familiar faces I often see at the broadcasting station. Ah, our oldest hyung doesn’t have the gift of gab, so I’ll handle the introductions.”
Despite Cha Woon, who was clearly the ‘oldest hyung with no gift for gab‘, showing his obvious distaste, Lee Chise continued smoothly with his commentary.
“We were watching the intro video from backstage too. We’re at a loss for words because our juniors said so many kind words in the interview. Thank you.”
After the short thank-you speech, responses full of witty remarks like “I’m just speaking the truth” came from the edge of the stage where the cast was sitting. Eventually, someone shouted, “I love you!”, then Jay remarked, “This is the first time I’ve ever received such a bold love confession.”. In response, someone immediately shot back, “I don’t think it’s your first time, sunbaenim!”. Watching this Tiki-Taka1, it was hard to tell whether this was a department head’s birthday party or a gathering of idol seniors and juniors.
“Actually, these kinds of programs can only be filmed because there are people willing to participate. I’m so thankful that our juniors decided to join for Prism’s special. I was really worried that no one would show up for our group’s turn, and that the whole appearance would get canceled.”
When Lee Chise made a joke to lighten the mood, the juniors reacted with an exaggerated “Ugh!” and desperately shook their heads. Watching their gestures, which screamed, ‘If we don’t react properly, we’re f**ked‘, it was almost pitiful.
‘Canceling the appearance? Nonsense.’
According to what I heard from the production team after confirming our appearance, the number of groups that expressed interest in appearing in Prism’s special was significantly higher than that of the previously filmed artists. The idea that Prism wouldn’t be able to film the program due to a lack of participating groups simply didn’t make sense from the start.
‘I thought everyone would shy away from the program because of the notorious idol execution song … but surprisingly, many big-name groups showed up.’
Usually, the reason for appearing on Legendary Singer was either to gain the exceptional buzz that the program itself generated, or out of admiration for the legendary singers.
However, given that the majority of the cast weren’t groups in dire need of publicity, it’s safe to say that almost 90% of them were here for the second reason.
[“I want to be like Prism-sunbaenims. Isn’t this the dream of every male idol?”]
[“Prism-sunbaenim are truly … the idols of idols. It’s my dream to one day stand on stage with them.”]
Thinking back to the interviews from the video we watched earlier, it seemed like there were more kids who considered Prism as a role model than I had imagined. I hadn’t really paid attention before, so I didn’t know much, but seeing it like this in person made it a bit more real.
‘I’m pretty sure they said it was a show where rising rookie artists cover songs by legendary singers…….’
Several factors contributed to this unprecedented situation: Prism had a large pool of high-profile applicants, the production team understandably wanted artists with a large fanbase for higher viewership, and because the high difficulty level of Prism’s songs, a group with considerable experience was needed to produce a decent broadcast performance.
‘The lineup is so packed that it can’t even be compared to other times.’
As I watched them, worrying about the Pantheion members who were relatively at a newborn level, the groups began to greet the camera with their respective slogans, following the main PD’s instructions.
The Legendary Singer‘s lineup consisted of five groups.
“Raise the sun! Hello, we are Raize. Prism-sunbaenim, as you already know, our team members have been huge fans of yours for a long time. So, when we got the offer for this program, we were really happy. We will do our absolute best. Please take care of us!”
First, Raize, the group with the most seniority and the largest fanbase among the program’s participants.
They were a senior group that firmly maintained their place at the top until Pantheion made their debut. Judging by the recent news of their unanimous contract renewal, it seemed the members had a good relationship. However, thinking back to when I ran into them in the waiting room earlier, I also got the feeling that the center’s voice was a bit too loud.
‘No way, was this program appearance decided because that guy pushed for it as well?’
“Focus on me. We’re 24 hours. Please take care of us.”
While I was pondering that question, the next group, which has a fairly large fanbase but has recently been involved in a scandal, causing their image to become somewhat ambiguous, took their turn.
‘Their expressions are dark.’
As the surrounding cast craned their necks like pigeons, counting heads and then whispering among themselves, it became clear that the member involved in the scandal had been excluded, and only the remaining members were participating.
“Smile! Hello, we are Raon! We’ll give it our all!”
Next, a group that steadily grew over nearly six years without any scandals, and later hit their golden era through word-of-mouth, greeted everyone. Then, it was Pantheion’s turn.
As I made eye contact with the members and counted, “One, two, three”, a voice devoid of any charm resounded quietly within the studio.
“Hello, we are Pantheion.”
“…….”
“…….”
At once, the attention of the cast and production crew instantly focused on us.
It seemed like the voices of Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon, who always filled the voice share with their booming voices, had become quieter, and as a result, mine and Lee Danbi’s voices stood out more.
‘Woo Kangwon couldn’t make a sound because he was nervous around the seniors, and Do Yuda…….’
Feeling a bit suspicious, I turned to look at Do Yuda, who had his head lowered with a sulking face like a squashed steamed bun. Then, he spoke with what seemed like genuine resentment.
“Me too … me too … I want to do a cool slogan. And strike a pose too!”
‘Ah.’
As I wore a vague expression at Do Yuda’s shout, Nam Yihwon picked up his microphone and called out to me.
“Seungbeom-ssi.”
‘Don’t call me.’
Something felt ominous.
“Seungbeom-ssi?”
‘Don’t call me.’
If I act like I didn’t hear, please just pretend you don’t know and drop it. Use your common sense. It’s not that you don’t have any, you’re just choosing not to use it.
“…Yes.”
As I forced myself to answer like a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse, Nam Yihwon smiled faintly and then dropped a bombshell.
“Since your dongsaeng wants to do it so badly, just let him do one. Seungbeom-ssi, you have that famous catchphrase, right? Meow Seungbeom? Do that one. Yuda-ssi, you can just do ‘Woof Woof Yuda.‘”
Are you … crazy?
Don’t you value your life?
‘Did he really pick up the microphone just for this nonsense? He didn’t say a single word the whole time since the recording started?’
I wanted to deny the reality unfolding before me, but unfortunately, Nam Yihwon was a guy who had a track record of combing the few remaining hairs of a senior suffering from hair loss, standing them upright one by one with an expressionless face, on a variety show.
In other words, he was the type to pursue immediate thrills, even if it meant getting beaten later; a guy who was totally insane. So, it would be correct to assume that this situation was real.
“Woof woof, Yuda likes it! Woof woof!”
And Do Yuda was just a stupid dog.
That guy would still wag his tail even if a thief broke into his house. The situation right now was exactly like that.
“…….”
In the end, I did it.
Meow Seungbeom.
Not for the fans, but solely to become a spectacle for these crazy bastards.
“Leada’s ears are the color of cherry blossoms. Ssssh ssshh, snake Zen will give them a little massage.”
I was thankful that, at the very least, it was “Meow Seungbeom, and not “Meow Yutae“. It was the only thing keeping me from completely losing my dignity as a human being.
While I was thinking about the unrealistic thought that if I killed all the humans in this room right now and destroyed the recording, at least Choi Jeokhyeon wouldn’t be able to see the disgraceful act I had just committed, Nam Yihwon, who had been staring at me as I shouted “Meow Seungbeom“, opened his mouth again.
“You’re adorable, Seungbeom-ssi.”
Goosebumps rose all over my back and arms.
“Pfft.”
Faced with content that completely clashed with his low voice and languid tone, the Prism members, who had been maintaining relatively straight faces until then, tightly shut their eyes and gritted their teeth.
‘I’m going to kill them.’
‘F**k this, I should have just rejected the offer to appear on this program, no matter what those chicks say.‘
I’d rather be tortured.
Do those bastards think I’m a fool? They were laughing as if covering their mouths made them invisible. What made me even angrier was that none of the other cast members or the production staff, aside from me, seemed to notice anything odd about them.
In this way, the atmosphere in the studio became warm from the unexpected performance of the youngest line group … no, actually, the person with the most seniority in this room. With the greetings from all the cast members, including COMA-1, finally finished, the MCs, who had been watching me with very pleased expressions, spoke again.
“Alright, now that we’ve finished our greetings, let’s move on to the next segment.”
“Earlier in the interview, we heard the cast’s evaluation of the legendary group, Prism. Now, let’s see how the cast evaluates each other. Let’s check it out together.”
It seemed like the next segment would be the ‘evaluation videos‘, a staple of survival programs.
‘Did we do such an interview?’
I didn’t know anything about this.
As soon as I sensed it, an overwhelming sense of anxiety hit me.
‘Who … are they taking?’
[“Oh.”]
After the MCs finished speaking, the first person to appear on the pitch-black screen was, of all people, Zen. Seeing Zen’s signature blank expression fill the screen, I felt a nervous dread, as if I were leaving a child unattended by the water’s edge.
A subtitle asking, ‘What do you think of Gong Seonghwa?’‘ appeared, and immediately, Zen tilted his head in confusion.
[“Gong Seonghwa? I’m not familiar with him.“]
I had no idea why of all things, that particular line was spoken with such flawless Korean, like a native speaker. The moment his naturally rebellious tone of voice, sounding almost sarcastic, flowed through the speakers, Raize’s center, whom I had run into in the hallway of the waiting room, froze with a cold expression.
‘..Was his name Gong Seonghwa?’
As I finally figured out the name of Raize’s center while looking at him, the video, cruelly, did not stop and continued, with Zen’s cleverly edited remarks playing on.
[“Center, I think Leada is the top. All lowly beings kneel before him.”]
There’s really a fool in our group who’s sweetly securing our screentime share? Please tell me this isn’t real.
…What am I supposed to do with this light and salt2 of the broadcasting industry?
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Translator’s Corner:
MC describes Zen as “Light and Salt of the broadcasting industry” because someone with personality like Zen is very needed to make the broadcast spicy. Like, you don’t even need to try hard to edit an evil editing in this way. ↩︎
Oh the fanwar when this aired will 100% be crazy … Fighting, Muses …. also someone save Yihwon
Anyway, I hope I’m just overthinking and delusional, but I seriously had a feeling I have a serious illness ………. I really need to visit doctor sighs I just don’t know how to do it secretly. They really didn’t have any public transportation around here I’m asdfghjkl ugh I miss living in city when the bus stop is just 5 minutes walk ……… like, how can this place doesn’t have any when each village here can have a distance up to 30 minutes by car …..
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