“Oh~ Idol Inc.”
“So it starts this week.”
When the advertisement for the new season of Idol Inc. appeared, a few of the guys watching the drama gave halfhearted exclamations.
They probably weren’t particularly excited about it.
We had filmed for it, so they were most likely just acknowledging something they recognized.
But by the time the thirty-second advertisement finished, that calm had transformed into bewilderment and embarrassment.
[The K-pop national idols created by <Idol Incorporated>]
[A global phenomenon moving beyond Korea and toward the world]
[TeSTAR]
[Meet the idol stocks who will follow in their footsteps!]
“Oh my God.”
That was because more than half of the promotion focused on how amazing TeSTAR had been and how TeSTAR would appear in Season 4.
‘…They took the easy route.’
Season 3 had been insanely successful while it aired, and even the group that debuted from it had gone on to perform far beyond expectations.
Nothing could beat that for drawing attention early on.
‘They probably had a reason for putting this ad after this drama too.’
They had placed the Season 4 advertisement in the prime slot immediately after an episode featuring a surprise appearance by Bae Sejin, a contestant from Idol Inc. Season 3.
Meaning they had been aiming for this exact picture from the beginning.
There was a reason the company had passed the offer on to Bae Sejin instead of filtering it out.
‘So the audience they picked to pull in the initial viewers is… TeSTAR’s fans.’
“……Hmm.”
Even if the fanbases didn’t overlap deeply, the possibility of fans migrating still didn’t sit well with me.
T1 probably didn’t care if they encouraged fans to switch over, since the kids who debuted through Season 4 would belong to them anyway.
‘Once they’ve generated enough early buzz, they’ll start gathering the audience that actually wants this kind of show.’
Still, if Season 4 underperformed more than expected… they might try using the TeSTAR card again.
‘I don’t like that.’
From my perspective, Season 4 was a prepared time bomb.
We had already gone through that mess during rookie-award season because of the controversy surrounding Ryu Chungwoo and the writer’s relative.
If even a whiff of a fairness controversy happened in Season 4, it would be easy for TeSTAR to get dragged into it.
TeSTAR was already at risk of accumulating public fatigue because of the large and small controversies that had followed us since debut.
So far, we had suppressed that with album quality and our image.
We couldn’t afford more.
‘Our involvement needs to end with this appearance.’
…And preferably, I’d like even this appearance to be brief.
I knew.
That was probably wishful thinking.
‘Those bastards took individual shots of us too….’
They would probably squeeze everything they could out of us until the show generated enough buzz by itself.
Sure enough, Big Sejin, who had been scrolling through his smartphone, gave a short laugh.
“Oh~ We’re in the other teasers too.”
Even from the audio alone, I could hear how expertly they had edited TeSTAR’s greetings together with the screams of this season’s contestants to make everything sound urgent and exciting.
[This is Seon Ahyeon….]
[AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!]
“I-It’s a little embarrassing….”
“Ahyeon hyung, you appear extremely handsome. I do not believe you need to worry!”
“Y-Yeah, u-ummm…….”
Looks like Kim Raebin’s comment embarrassed him the most.
Understood.
That day, I checked the response to Bae Sejin’s drama appearance, briefly looked over reactions to the new season of Idol Inc., and finished my work.
So far there was only buzz and no particular conflict, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the calm before the storm.
And a few days later, the new season of Idol Inc. began airing.
“Bye, Loviewers~”
“Bye!”
With the energetic farewell, Big Sejin pressed a button on the smartphone.
[W Live has ended.]
We happened to have some time, and it had been long enough since the last one, so we did a W Live.
The topic was…
I’ll be honest.
We’d run out of ideas, so we just did some simple cooking.
Still, I trusted that meat made it acceptable.
At least the guys eating it liked it.
“Can I eat this?”
“Yeah. Eat it.”
The final half of today’s beer chicken went into Cha Eugene’s mouth.
‘He eats well.’
Of the members doing today’s W Live because their schedules happened to be free, he was the biggest eater.
Me, Big Sejin, Cha Eugene, and… Bae Sejin.
“Good work, hyung.”
“I barely did anything….”
Bae Sejin murmured while avoiding my gaze.
“No. You helped the most with the cooking.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, ahem. If you say so.”
Big Sejin had focused on being funny, while Cha Eugene had focused on eating, so in reality, Bae Sejin had basically been the only assistant.
And today, borrowing Big Sejin’s phrasing, Bae Sejin had been fairly cooperative.
Meaning he had reacted a lot and actively tried to participate even in friendly conversation that had nothing to do with moving the broadcast forward.
And Bae Sejin’s efforts would bring much greater results than he himself expected.
The timing was perfect.
‘Bae Sejin acted way too well in that drama.’
It was widely known that Bae Sejin had been a child actor, but because of the way he had been portrayed on Idol Inc., the overall impression was still that he was less capable than the other members.
Then, through this drama appearance, people had reevaluated one particular ability—acting—and his stock had recovered considerably.
Like this.
—Bae Sejin seriously shocked the hell out of me, thought he was actually possessed
—You don’t lose the experience of being in a ten-million-viewer movie at eleven years old lol
—Watched it with my mom and she was so delighted like “that little kid grew up this much?”
—I want to see him longer, please give him another project~ㅠㅠ
Because the cameo role was cleverly chosen, it remained memorable despite the short appearance, and his acting skill had been excellent.
‘It benefits him personally.’
So if I absolutely had to identify a problem, it was that both Bae Sejin’s individual fans and his antis had probably started thinking, Wouldn’t he be better off acting?
But since this was a one-off event appearance, that topic hadn’t really made it onto the table.
At this level, it was fine.
‘If he keeps showing that he gets along well with the group like this in our own content, it should be okay.’
It was enough to give the impression that he enjoyed group activities.
‘And ethically speaking, starting serious acting work in two or three years would probably be just about right.’
Well, to be fair, I had no idea what things would look like even by the end of next year.
If this really was the end of my Status Abnormality, then by that point, I wouldn’t need to obsess over results this desperately anymore.
‘Of course, right now I still need to focus.’
Which was why I was preparing to monitor the new season of Idol Inc., something I’d never expected to become part of my life.
I suspected TeSTAR’s appearance in Episode 1 would just be bait, so I had waited until Episode 2 piled up as well.
“Moondae-Moondae, what’re you doing~?”
“I’m going to watch this season of Idol Inc.”
“Oh~ Good idea?”
I claimed the currently empty living-room TV and moved over to WeTube.
The guys who had filmed W Live with me slowly gathered around.
‘Guess they were curious too.’
Conveniently, a clip from the show was right there on the main page.
[<Relisted! Idol Incorporated 2> The Nation’s Blue-Chip Stock TeSTAR★ Appears | Episodes 1–2 TeSTAR Clip]
Normally they waited a while before releasing clips like this.
They must have been desperate for immediate buzz.
“Oh~ Moondae’s on the thumbnail!”
I was the official first-place winner, after all.
Anyway, I clicked it.
[What does <Idol Incorporated> mean to me?]
Against a dark background, solo shots of the TeSTAR members appeared with serious expressions.
[I’m nervous all over again!]
[To me, Idol Incorporated is…….]
[…a new opportunity?]
[A turning point in my life]
Apparently these were clips meant to create an atmosphere of, Look how incredible our Idol Inc. is.
“Ugggh~ This is intense?”
“It’s cheesy!”
“……Ha.”
Leaving the guys to suffer through the taste of Idol Inc. show business for the first time in a while, the video charged straight ahead.
Footage showed TeSTAR getting embarrassed while watching clips of our Season 3 appearances and reminiscing, accompanied by warm background music.
“Wow~ Moondae can’t even lift his head. Are you embarrassed by the chicken feet? You ate those chicken feet so deliciously, and now you’re embarrassed?”
“Shut up.”
Then the scene transitioned to this season’s contestants watching those old Idol Inc. clips and footage of TeSTAR’s activities.
[I really wanted to create a stage like that too.]
[I think it really ignited my desire to challenge myself.]
“…Those were the days.”
“Cheer up, guys~”
“I hope it works out for them.”
The members had been watching with a certain amount of sympathy and understanding.
Then the next scene made them groan.
[Season 3 contestants arrive on set!]
[AAAAAAAAAAH↗!!]
[※Not the sound of crows※]
They replayed the entrance about three times while highlighting it because they had practically given each individual TeSTAR member their own shot.
The finishing blow was the contestants’ interviews.
[He was my one-pick. I’m going insane…!]
[The scream just… came right out of my throat!]
[I couldn’t control myself. Uhahahaha!]
[Moondoggy in person!! Seriously! I thought my heart was going to explode!]
I’d bet the beer chicken that the poor contestant in the last clip was currently being ripped apart online for calling a direct sunbae by a nickname without even using an honorific.
“Hmm. This is more embarrassing than I expected?”
“Why?? I like it!”
As the members’ opinions split, the intense welcome on screen finally calmed somewhat when each TeSTAR member took turns offering encouragement and good wishes.
First, Cha Eugene.
[WOW! Everyone, do your best! Don’t be nervous, enjoy this moment, and work hard!]
I imagined a few people would pretend to be annoyed and say, You can say that because you never got evil edited even once, but that kind of response would have happened regardless of what Cha Eugene said.
So it was fine.
Next was Bae Sejin.
[…I hope you can gain what you want from being here.]
Hmm.
Anyone trying to rile people up by saying he was untalented and could only manage such an obvious line had probably gotten counterattacked and failed.
Next was… Big Sejin.
[<Idol Incorporated> is a major audition, right? Because of that, I think it’s inevitably a place where things can end up not going the way you expected or planned.]
‘Setting up the possibility of failure.’
[But you can’t deny that it’s an opportunity, so I hope you try everything you possibly can so that you won’t have regrets. I’ll be cheering for you!]
He focused on the challenge itself rather than achievement.
Hmm.
There was nothing to criticize here.
He had even slightly elevated the program’s status without going far enough to irritate anyone.
‘Being quick on the uptake really does make a difference.’
Anyway, things were generally fine up to this point.
There hadn’t been any weird editing either, and I imagined far more people liked it than disliked it.
But my turn still hadn’t appeared.
I had been last.
“Moondae hyung!”
“Oh~ Last one!”
Only when the playback bar had nearly reached the end did Park Moondae on screen lift the microphone.
[While appearing here….]
And suddenly, a silent montage began.
“……?”
[There were many times when I felt my limitations. Whether it was my own ability or my circumstances.]
Footage passed by one after another: Park Moondae dancing POP☆CON, practicing without sleeping during the grade evaluation, practicing choreography and then collapsing afterward.
And…
There was even a shot of him sitting alone on a bed with a complicated expression.
“…….”
Unaired footage.
It was probably from when I had learned about Park Moondae’s past.
[But sometimes, I also found that you can break through those limitations.]
Brief shots appeared of Park Moondae on stage and smiling faintly while shouting a slogan among the other contestants on his team.
[I hope that when this shoot is over, all of you will also be able to look at yourselves from a broader perspective.]
Back on screen, Park Moondae, now a member of TeSTAR, lowered his head.
[Thank you for listening.]
After that shot, they showed this season’s contestants with reddened eyes.
Of course, accompanied by an emotionally arranged version of this season’s theme song.
Read only on MUGEX
“…….”
“……Um.”
Bae Sejin carefully opened his mouth.
“I don’t think… it felt like that.”
Correct.
It was completely fabricated.
They had asked me, “Since you came in first, could you please make yours just a little longer!” and I had finished my encouragement in an extremely ordinary tone amid the goodwill of the contestants.
Meaning there had been absolutely none of this tone that connected everything to Park Moondae’s journey through the previous season as though laying out a panorama.
And of course, none of the contestants had cried either.
Those kids had just been happy.
Still, I wasn’t surprised.
“It’s Idol Inc.”
“That’s… true.”
That exchange was enough for everyone present to accept the situation.
Apparently, though, that didn’t apply to everyone on the internet.
“Moondae, there are already some articles about you too?”
“……Really?”
[<Idol Inc.> Launches New Season. From Dark Horse to Champion… Can Park Moondae’s Comeback Story Be Repeated?]
[First Place as an Ordinary Contestant, Park Moondae’s Wise Advice. <Relisted! Idol Incorporated 2>]
[<Relisted! Idol Incorporated 2> Will Former ‘Junk Stock’ Park Moondae Teach the Secret Behind His Surge?]
‘These bastards, seriously.’
It had been a while since I’d tasted Idol Inc.’s style of attention-grabbing bullshit.