★ The Second Life Idols Lucky Plan – Chapter 46

[If I have practiced this much, shouldn't I have improved more? If I mess up on stage like this... If I'm pushed out again, I'll be eliminated here too...]

Yu Chanhee, who was sitting crouched down, could hear his own heartbeat.

[If I've gotten this far, there is no real answer. I have to keep my rank somehow... Keep my 'character,' show the opposite, be versatile... then... Shit, but how the heck do I do that...]

"..."

[I have to do it somehow... If I can't debut this time... I really don't know when I'll be able to debut... What if the company kicks me out...]

The accident that continued in that way suddenly stopped at some point.

"... Hah..."

Yu Chanhee stood up from his seat with a deep sigh.

He roughly organized the lyrics and left the practice room without hesitation.

He didn't come back until dawn.

* * *

"Yoo-ha, did you stay up all night again?"

"Uh."

I ate rice from my plate while listening to Cheon Serim at the breakfast table. Do Jihyeok, who was eating with him next to him, asked with a surprised face.

"You pulled an all-nighter?"

"Yeah."

"Then you stayed up all night for two days...?"

Following the question of Yoo Minseong, who was sitting next to me, Cheon Serim shook his head and tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hyung, you're really gonna collapse. Get some sleep."

"... I have a lot to figure out. I can do it myself."

With the power of my Bungbung drinks, I am unstoppable.

"But where is Young-oh and Yu Chanhee?"

Continuing the conversation on this topic, I thought I might hear some nagging, so I brought up the names of two absentees to change the topic.

It was impossible not to notice that they were missing because we eat as a group and go to practice together every day.

"Ah, Chanhee Hyung and Young-oh Hyung went ahead. They both wanted to practice."

The one who answered my question was Yoo Minseong, who shared a room with the two of them.

"I guess Chanhee has a lot on his mind. It sounds like Young-oh wanted to practice vocals."

I didn't say anything more, pretending to agree with the words. And on the way to the practice room after eating, I asked Cheon Serim.

"Do you know any trainees in DIO?"

"Why?"

Revealing my intentions would be easier than hiding them from Cheon Serim, I lowered my voice without hesitation and opened my mouth.

"Do you know why Chanhee was dropped from the debut group?"

"... Are you surprised? Did you decide to talk to Yu Chanhee properly? If you did, that would be a great character narrative!"

"..."

Could I?

When I couldn't bear to speak and just stared, Cheon Serim giggled as if he was just teasing. I slowed down and took a deep breath.

"I heard he got hit in the back of the head?"

"What?"

And only when the distance was widened did I finally confess the story I was curious about.

"There was an unofficial trainee who joined in the middle, but the positions seemed to overlap with Yu Chanhee. It seems that he probably had a connection with DIO's top line or something, but thanks to that, he pushed Chanhee Yu out and entered the debut group instead."

"... Did he appear in <Design Your Idol> as compensation for being pushed out?"

"Perhaps. From what I heard, the member who pushed Chanhee 'Picked up on things quickly.' or they say that 'He was more suited to the aesthetic of the group.' The situation gave Chanhee quite a bad reputation."

However, in reality, it was said that he had inferior skills to Yu Chanhee. Cheon Serim speculated that it must have been DIO's choice to include unofficial trainees in the debut group.

It was common. There have been many cases where trainees who have relations with the higher-ups are secretly included in the debut group with the title of being an "Unofficial Trainee."

"Even though he was pushed out, he was still talented. He deserves the right to be upset. His story became popular. In the meantime, he participated in <Design Your Idol>, and most of the trainees knew his story, making him even more obsessed with showing off his skills."

Only after hearing that, I could get a vague sense of why Chanhee had hostility toward me from Serim's words.

'He's taking out his anger on me.'

Yu Chanhee must have been seeing the shadow of DIO's unofficial trainee in me.

'... It's not that I don't understand.'

Maybe I reminded Chanhee of him.

Being from a large company, he was in the spotlight from the beginning, receiving a lot of attention from the production crew, he was well-liked by anyone, and even appeared as if he lied about his growth character in order to stand out.

Regardless of the misunderstanding, I just stimulated Yu Chanhee's trauma with my existence. It was unfortunate for me too.

'Anyway, at least I now know.'

I know why he is hostile to me and that It isn't my fault. So I do not have to hesitate anymore.

* * *

"Oh, four high-rankers? This is rigged."

"Oh my God, what's up with the lineup? They have 2nd, 3rd, 8th, and 10th?! Too many top tiers! Like, is this the 'Idol Avengers' or something?"

Time passed, and the midterm evaluation day approached before I knew it. We stood in front of the mentors with our opposing team, group six.

As the mentors said, our team's lineup was splendid compared to the opposing team, Group 6. Because there were 4 people in the top 10 out of a total of 6 people.

"The reverse positions are... Jihyeok, Yoo-ha, and Chanhee? I hope I can look forward to this."

"There are many of the top-ranked members included in this group. Don't let me down."

As such, the mentors foreshadowed that they would evaluate our team a little more rigorously.

And after finishing the performance according to the arranged music...

"Did you guys practice properly?"

... We had to listen to harsh criticism as high as our expectations.

"Young-oh, are you performing a solo?"

The first to speak was Domin, the vocal mentor.

Domin's first target was Hwang Young-oh, who was in charge of the main vocal position. As Hwang Young-oh looked at Domin tensely.

Domin sighed.

"Didn't I tell you about this in the last contest too? The higher your motivation, the better you must control yourself. You stand out too much alone, so you don't mix with the rest of the team at all. You are not on stage alone, Young-oh. This is a group battle."

"Yes..."

"If you're going to do it alone, why even be in a group? All you're doing is just looking out for yourself. Young-oh, let me give it to you straight; you're not playing your role correctly as the main vocalist."

"...Sorry."

"The same goes for Chanhee."

"Yes?"

Yu Chanhee raised his head with a frozen face and looked at the judges. Domin stared at him coldly.

"Sing the part right before the chorus in verse one."

"..."

Yu Chanhee hesitated but soon sang with a firm expression. The part right before the chorus is a section where the pitch gradually rises, and it was a part that required much skill because of the pitch variation.

And Yu Chanhee couldn't sing properly and ended up having a voice crack.

"Ah..."

Domin stared at Yu Chanhee, who lowered his head and sighed.

"I know it's difficult because your position is reversed. But Chanhee, do you know that you are using your neck incorrectly? If you do that, you won't even sing the tone right. It seems like you're not singing right now; you're just holding your throat and squeezing out your voice."

"..."

"I think I told you how to use your neck during the level re-evaluation. You did well then, so why are you failing now? Didn't you practice?"

"P-Practice..."

Yu Chanhee, who was about to speak as if he was holding back tears, was startled and shut his mouth again. Seeing that, Domin shut his mouth after leaving a message telling him not to neglect practice.

The evaluation of the dance mentor, Rio followed. The dance did not receive much criticism. It was the only part of our group that received favorable reviews, saying that it goes well with the concept of the changed group dance and movement led by Ji-hyeok and that it fits well with the direction of the arrangement. They said that Serim Cheon, the center, also saved the atmosphere well.

However, Jane said that Hwang Young-oh needs to practice more, that he seemed to be not yet familiar with the choreography, and that his movements are too stiff.

Even though he was in charge of the dance break section, Yoo Minseong, who stood behind Do Jihyeok, was advised that he needed to show more of his presence.

The last one to hold the microphone was rap mentor Briddy.

"Yoo-ha."

And Briddy called my name right away.

"Yes."

"The lyrics are well written."

"Thank you."

'"But-"

The word 'But' is a trainee's worst fear.

Anticipating that the atmosphere would change, I immediately shut my mouth and tensed my shoulders. Briddy stared at me with sharp eyes and spat out without hesitation.

"Compared to Jihyeok, you're pronunciation keeps getting chewed up. It would be better to practice enunciation more, and it is clear that you worked hard on rap copying. But that's all. You have to figure out what kind of feeling you want to give this song. Because no one can tell."

"Yes."

"You did well at this level in a few days. You didn't want this kind of evaluation, did you? To be honest, I would be ashamed to go on stage with a rap like this. I don't want to hear the sound of a kindergarten banquet."

Briddy said, pointing out that during the evaluation of the first mission of <Design Your Idoll>, some teams had heard insulting words such as a kindergarten party. I nodded at those words.

"And I have a question..."

Briddy looked around at our group and sighed

"Aren't you guys helping each other?"

"..."

Rather than speaking, we scanned the faces of our teammates and mentors awkwardly. Briddy looked at us and tilted his head.

"Your team has some good rappers, some good singers, and some good dancers.

"Yoo-ha."

"... Yes."

My name was called once more, so I answered as Mina looked at me. Then, Cha Mina glanced at Yu Chanhee and opened her mouth.

"Did you and Chanhee help each other?"

"..."

"Two people traded positions. If one was the main vocalist in the last evaluation and the other was the main rapper, they would practice together. But now it seems like the two of them are practicing separately. Haven't you two been helping each other?"

Yu Chanhee stubbornly kept his mouth shut and only looked at the ground. As I watched the camera tenaciously capture that scene, I just stared straight ahead without thinking about making excuses.

It was because I knew that whether I made an excuse or accepted it, it would not be edited in a good way on air.

The mentors looked closely at me and Yu Chanhee, then picked up the microphone and gave one last piece of advice.

"Make good use of each other. You guys haven't been able to do that one thing properly, so it doesn't look like multiple solo groups are performing together rather than as a team."

And we sat together in a corner of the practice room to watch Group 6 perform. I glanced at the faces of my teammates.

Do Jihyeok and Cheon Serim had relatively calm faces, but Yoo Minseong and Hwang Young-oh seemed irritated.

Not to mention Yu Chanhee.

'... Today's practice will be long.'

Maybe the following practice could be 'actual' practice.

With that thought in mind, I put my thoughts aside and looked straight in front of me. As Group 6 got into formation.

And I was able to face Danwoo Ju, whom I had seen for the first time in days—the guy who turned radio silent after joining a team with Woo-Jae, Siege Labels favorite child.