For Prism’s special, a total of five groups decided to appear on Legendary Singer, ranging from top-tier active idols to rising rookies. When the lineup was revealed, people called this season the most legendary in Legendary Singer history.
Amidst such high expectations, the midterm evaluation of the first competition arrived.
In the evaluation, not a single group received favorable reviews from Prism.
Despite every cast steering clear of the infamous ‘idol execution song‘, Domination, and opting for the less challenging Prism title’s tracks, the outcome was still like this.
There might have been various reasons for this, but there was one cause that everyone felt deeply.
‘The skill gap between Prism and the cast is just too big.’
When I recalled the stories passed on by the production team or the rest of the cast, it was a real mess.
“…This isn’t hard, so let’s do it quickly, shall we?”
“Did you practice properly?”
‘The production team said it wasn’t that terrible in their eyes, though.’
In particular, the group that chose Lee Chise as their mentor was completely fed up with him. He casually tapped out a beat with a cheap 500-won ballpoint pen, improvised a rap on the spot to match their arrangement, then tilted his head and said, “See? Just do it like this. What’s so hard about it?“. They were utterly exhausted by his antics.
After hearing the story, Lee Danbi muttered with a vacant look in his eyes, “Ah, Lee Chise-sunbaenim does have a bit of a tendency for that.”
Most of the Prism members, like Lee Chise, grew frustrated after seeing the cast’s performances and immediately demonstrated the ideal version they had envisioned. However, the cast could do nothing but stare at them in a daze, mouths open.
The cast genuinely wanted to replicate what Prism had demonstrated, but they simply couldn’t.
‘They probably walked away from this feedback session with nothing but the realization of how hopelessly lacking their skills are.’
But realistically, with the competition just around the corner, it was impossible to suddenly improve their skills. So, such thoughts were of no help at all in the moment.
In the end, what their juniors needed wasn’t the bestimprovement plan, but the most efficient compromise they could make at their current level. And to achieve that, the cast had to take the time to recognize their own shortcomings and figure out solutions within their current abilities.
‘Because they know they can’t do things exactly as the members of Prism want anyway‘. That was why, unlike the other members, Cha Woon focused solely on analyzing the cast’s performances and breaking down their current shortcomings in detail.
‘I guess this is one way the experience gap1 within Prism shows. Or maybe the others just don’t really care about the juniors.’
“I’m really glad we chose Cha Woon-sunbaenim as our mentor. Seriously.”
“Danbi was the one who suggested choosing Cha Woon-sunbaenim, right? Does our Danbi have some kind of supernatural foresight?”
Whenever the members heard all the horror stories about Prism, the members would lift up Lee Danbi, who had chosen Cha Woon, and me, who had nodded in agreement, like African lion cubs and breathed a sigh of relief.
“I just believed that Cha Woon-sunbaenim would treat us well.”
There had been a time during the filming of Survive IDOL when Lee Danbi accidentally overheard something Cha Woon had said about him, hadn’t there? I suspected that experience had played a significant role in shaping his impression of Cha Woon.
It was far more difficult than one might imagine to recognize someone who spoke hard-to-accept truths as a ‘good person‘ or ‘someone who genuinely cares about you‘.
‘Yeah, that’s Lee Danbi’s strength.’
Since I didn’t bring up any specific member’s name first during the mentor selection process, it was fair to see this outcome as something Lee Danbi achieved.
Ultimately, Lee Hwayoung began making major performance to the stage based on Cha Woon’s feedback.
However, since the performance he had believed to be his best was met with harsh criticism, he had no idea how to improve it. All he could do was go through trial and error over and over again on his own.
And just as he was reaching his limit, he came to me with a somewhat dejected look on his face.
“…Hint.”
“What?”
“Can’t you give me a hint?”
‘Ah, I should’ve taken a picture of that face and shown it to Choi Jeokhyeon.’
When Do Yuda saw Lee Hwayoung asking me for a hint, he cried out, “Why-why are you intimidating people with that murderous look?“. But to me, he looked exactly like the five-years-old JackJack.
In the end, I couldn’t resist and gave him a small piece of advice.
“When did I ever tell you to do everything yourself? You don’t actually think you can perfectly pull off what I did, do you?”
“…….”
“Look around you. Am I really the only one beside you with more experience than you? Aren’t there others who are just as passionate about the performance as you? You need to find them.”
Those words seemed to make Lee Hwayoung spend the entire night deep in thought.
And as soon as the sun rose the next day, he went to where the dancers were resting, sat down with them, and began reworking the stage composition together.
Back when we first met on Survive IDOL, he wouldn’t say a single word to the production team or other staff. Watching that guy now, clumsily conversing with the dancers, I couldn’t help but smile.
‘I have this complicated feeling … like I just sent my child on his first errand.’
Until now, Lee Hwayoung had been trapped in the mold of Seo Yutae, feeling like he had to accomplish everything I had done and avoid everything I hadn’t. But since our talents were different and the time we had spent honing them wasn’t the same, that wasn’t quite the best approach.
Through this program, Lee Hwayoung had managed to break free from the shackles built from his admiration for me.
‘If he’s going to pursue a solo career, the ability to collaborate with others will be even more essential than when he was in a group. I’m glad that he’s getting the chance to learn that now.’
There are countless people around us who take pride in the stage, pouring everything they have into studying and practicing for it. Fortunately, we are in a position to borrow their expertise, so we must also learn how to collaborate with them effectively.
Learning to acknowledge your own shortcomings, recognize the competence of others, and collaborate with them. Until now, I had been the one solving every problem, leaving Lee Hwayoung with no opportunity to learn this for himself.
‘It would definitely be a good experience if people didn’t say useless comments to him…….’
As I was thinking about that, I naturally thought about the member I was most worried about.
It was Lee Danbi, who was practicing like a madman next to me right now.
Right now, all the members were focused on practicing according to Cha Woon’s feedback while waiting for Lee Hwayoung to finish revising the stage plan. In the meantime, Lee Danbi, who hadn’t received any feedback, was left with nothing to do but mindlessly repeat the practice he had been doing all along.
I quietly looked down at Lee Danbi, who was bent over, gasping for breath.
Seeing him gripping his knees, it seemed that the strain from excessive movements had taken quite a toll on his joints.
“Lee Danbi, wrap it up and take a break. The cameras have already left.”
I had promised myself that I wouldn’t give any special advice to the members on this program, but I judged that this was a situation where I had to step in.
But there was no response.
Drip. Drip.
The only sound reaching my ears was the droplets of sweat sliding down his nose and falling onto the practice room floor.
“Hyung, you’re acquainted with Prism-sunbaenims, right? I saw you talking with them at the hotel that day.”
After a long stretch of silence, Lee Danbi finally opened his mouth, as if he had finally sorted out his complicated thoughts.
“…How much did Prism-sunbaenims, who are famous for being a group of geniuses, practice to reach that level of skills?”
“…….”
“Please tell me, hyung. Was it less than mine?”
“…No, it wasn’t.”
No, it wasn’t. If anything, we practiced more, never less.
We practiced until our bones and muscles literally damaged and we collapsed from lack of sleep.
Even though most members possessed extraordinary talent, unmatched by other groups, we practiced until we were spitting blood. Prism was a place where, if you didn’t, you would fall behind in a heartbeat.
Because I knew that better than anyone, I remained silent, and Lee Danbi, with his head lowered even more, spoke once more.
“Hyung, you heard it too, right? What Gong Seonghwa-sunbaenims said to his members in Raize’s practice room.”
Raize’s practice room was right next to the one we were in now. That’s why, whenever something happened next door, we had no choice but to hear it as well.
‘…He must be talking about what happened last time.’
On the day Cha Woon gave his feedback, there was a loud noise from Raize’s practice room.
It was the sound of Gong Seonghwa pouring out his frustration so intensely that he could barely breathe.
“I have no idea what you guys are thinking. I’m not doing this because of Cha Woon-sunbaenim. At the very least, if you’re someone who stands on stage, you shouldn’t show that kind of behavior in front of others!”
“Seo-Seonghwa-ya, calm down. We said we’re sorry…….”
“How many more chances do you think we’ll have in our lifetime to show our performance to Prism-sunbaenims? This performance is so important to me that even giving it my all wouldn’t be enough, but what about you guys? Am I the only one struggling so desperately again?”
“…….”
“I really want to do well this time. But I can’t do it alone.”
And Gong Seonghwa ended up begging his members.
It was heartbreaking.
That same Gong Seonghwa, who always put on a calm and composed facade in front of the camera, was in tears inside the practice room, overcome with resentment and not knowing what to do.
“So, please help me a little … please help me just this once.”
And ever since then, the music in Raize’s practice room has never stopped.
Even after all the members had left for the day, Gong Seonghwa stayed behind and practiced until the end.
He was the center and leader of the group that currently held the top spot in the first team. It was a scene that clearly showed just how much determination and effort he had put in to stand in that place.
However, that desperation was not something that belonged only to Gong Seonghwa.
No matter how many tears they shed or how much pain they endured behind the scenes, everyone smiled on stage as if nothing was wrong. Prism, as well as the seniors before them, all endured it in the same way.
“I heard that Seo Yutae-sunbaenim usually only slept for 3-4 hours at most. I heard that he practiced every single day, no matter how busy his schedule was…….”
When the members of Prism asked their juniors if they had practiced properly, they meant if they had practiced as hard as they themselves had. And at the same time, because they knew the answer was no, they must have been disappointed.
“It’s not just Prism-sunbaenims. There’s no one here who puts in less effort than I do. Cha Woon-sunbaenim said those words because he knew I’d eventually be in a situation where I’d be surrounded by people with even greater talent as I climbed higher.”
Reaching the top of an industry is never easy.
Furthermore, among those who aim for the top, there is no one who isn’t desperate or lacking in earnestness.
It meant that the days when endless hard work could be a competitive advantage were already over.
“But if I, the least talented one here, take a break, what would happen?”
Lee Danbi, in this very moment, felt that reality deep in his bones as he watched his seniors desperately struggling on the front lines.
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Translator’s Corner:
This arc is supposed to make me cry … I’ll cry but tomorrow then ….
A scandal just broke in K-Ent industry, and if you’re asking my reactions … I’m angry and sad and happy and sad and angry at the same time that the past finally catching up on the person …… this is someone’s downfall happening and me watching because i’ve been waiting for it for five years ….
Although I’m not sure if it’s going to lead to a downfall. Korean actors got forgiven quite easily. Sabrina Carpenter really has a point when she said “You will be fine. You’re a man” ….. It wouldn’t be easy this time though, considering someone’s live has been lost. As I already said before, in that industry, people would start care and pity you once you died …. even though they’re the same people who was tearing you apart when you’re still alive.
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