The first day of filming came after a series of storms.
Kim Joo-an's steps were heavy as he headed towards the studio his agency had told him about early in the morning.
In the first place, Kim Joo-an only changed agencies because his uncle, a director from his former agency, said that he could debut if he moved to August.
To be exact, he had no intention of appearing on an idol survival show from the beginning.
"...You said I could debut easily if I came to AG. But what the heck?! Are you kidding me, Uncle? What if Mom finds out..."
"Joo-an, calm down and listen to your uncle. Everything's okay. All you have to do now is stand in line."
Stick to the AG purebloods.
Since they are kids who will definitely debut, if you just make a good image with them, you will get votes too.
'Ha, it's a good thing I got attached to Son Jae-ha in advance. If it weren't for that, I would've really been screwed.'
Kim Joo-an went into the waiting room that the youngest writer had guided him to, mulling over what his uncle had said on the phone.
"...ah?"
Inside, Son Jae-ha, the man Kim Joo-an had been thinking about, sat alone. Kim Joo-an approached him, secretly cheering.
'Ji Hwa-seong, it's hard to even talk to that kid when he's around. Good. We should get closer like this.'
"Jae-ha hyung!"
"Huh? Oh, Joo-an is here."
Son Jae-ha, upon hearing Kim Joo-an's voice, smiled brightly and greeted him.
If the prince depicted in animations were an Asian, would he be like this?
'I can't believe this person went through seven years of that difficult training life.'
Kim Joo-an, who barely managed to stay a trainee despite skipping all the practice sessions and relying on his uncle's help, was eventually cut from the debut group.
Kim Joo-an ran over to Son Jae-ha, sat down, and opened his mouth.
"Hyung. Did you see the article about our mentors?"
"Oh, I saw it. Only really great people showed up. Whatever mission we'll face, it wouldn't be easy."
"That's right! Ah, I just switched agencies thinking I'd be able to debut, but this seems too harsh. It's really frustrating. What kind of debut is this, really?"
"Hmm... I guess you could think of it that way. You've had a hard time."
Kim Joo-an pretended to be touched by Son Jae-ha's understanding and clung to him.
"I'm so glad I met you, hyung. I... had a really hard time at my previous agency."
At Kim Joo-an's whisper, Son Jae-ha raised his eyebrows and asked worriedly.
"It was hard? Why? Was QuinCE's trainee program too difficult?"
"Oh, that's not it. It's just...."
It was just a remark, but he got such a sweet response.
For a moment, someone's face flashed through Kim Joo-an's mind as he panicked.
The person Kim Joo-an hates to death.
Kim Chunyong!
What if that guy gets hated by Son Jae-ha, who is practically guaranteed t o debut?
Kim Joo-an's mouth was already moving as he finished calculating in his head.
"I'm a little cautious about saying this, but... there's a kid who used to practice with me and then transferred over here. He..."
* * *
The AD whispered into the radio.
"Check main camera 1, camera 2. Side 1, side 2, check. Jimmy's house check. Choi Ga-on's main cam check. Microphone check. One, two. Ga-on's commentary will be coming soon."
As the camera director and FD nodded after confirming everything, the slate went down with a cheerful sound.
Click!
At the same time, a bright light falls on the middle of the set.
"Shoot towards your dream of debuting!"
MC Choi Ga-on appeared in a cool manner, making a finger-gun with his hand.
〈Targeting Star〉.
Trainees capture the hearts of the public, and the public selects the trainees to debut.
The name, inspired by the image of a dart and a sniper, was somewhat clichéd.
"Hello, Star Shooters!"
With a recognizable MC and a well-written script, PD Joo's philosophy that even the impossible can be achieved with talented trainees certainly resonated.
[I'm happy that I can become a sushi chef thanks to our Jinwoo...]
[No ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Gasshuㅁㅊ guys keep bringing up Tata Yeon-saeng's lifet o our kids? Think about the fucking difference in level]
After the first broadcast, fans on various social media and communities excitedly called each other names like 'Shooter', 'Shu', and 'Gaesshu'.
"I am soloist Choi Ga-on, who has been chosen as the MC for August Entertainment's idol survival show, 〈Targeting Star〉."
Choi Ga-on, a popular solo idol and the first ambitious choice of PD Joo, looked at the camera with a refreshing smile.
'Is it OK?'
At the okay sign on the prompter, Choi Ga-on continued speaking with a much more relaxed expression.
"Today. The Star Shooters will meet 18 boys who dream of debuting through 〈Targeting Star〉."
As he spoke, a pre-made VCR started playing on the electronic board behind Choi Ga-on.
At first, the scene showed trainees practicing in the AG practice room, followed by the individual applicants and contestants who came over from other agencies.
Kim Chun-yong's part was limited to a brief walk down the AG hallway.
About 1 second?
After that was a close-up of Son Jae-ha with a slightly distressed face.
<"Opportunities like this don't come often. I want to give it my all until the very end.">
After the VCR ended with the voice presumed to be Son Jae-ha's, the lights turned back to the MC.
"Now, after the first stage where the trainees demonstrate their skills, they will receive a ranking through a 'mentor evaluation' to determine the next stage of the competition."
They call it a 'mentor evaluation', but in reality, it was meant to identify promising and unpromising trainees in advance through the psychology of lining up trainees.
'Because it's not something the MC can say directly.'
"Please send your support to the Star Shooters so that the trainees can do their best!"
After finishing his explanation, Choi Ga-on spread his arms wide and shouted.
"Now, we'll invite the mentors who will be with us from our boys' first stage to our last! Mentors, please come in!"
Min Si-young. Na Ji-hyeok, Moon Yoon-ha, and even Jin Da-sol.
As they sat down in the mentor seats, Choi Ga-on smiled brightly and spoke to them.
"Mentors, you'll soon meet the boys waiting backstage with trembling hearts. But before that, could you introduce yourselves to the viewers and tell us what your resolve is for today's evaluation?"
Singer Min Si-young and rapper Na Ji-hyeok spoke simply and professionally, as they have been on TV for a long time.
Skill and earnestness.
And based on possibility, fairly and equally.
The problem was the two judges who were the subject of the debate.
"Other people will take care of the process, so I'll just look for members who fit my aesthetics. They're the ones I'll be looking at for a long time."
The words poured out as soon as Moon Yoon-ha, who looked confident with long hair flowing down her back, grabbed the microphone, though they were literally unconventional.
There hasn't even been an official article yet saying that Moon Yoon-ha will be in charge of the debuting group, but she was unhesitating.
She was a person whose thoughts seemed to flow out of her mouth.
In contrast, Jin Daasol, the child of darkness, came out dressed in black from head to toe.
"I'll look into it and think about it."
---is that all?
"Cut! Okay, I'll take a quick break and then I'll be back. Yoon-ha, Dasol, just a moment."
PD Joo, who was struggling to wrap his head around the comments that could not be aired, tried to get a few more cuts of them separately, but they were both so stubborn that they just kept repeating variations of what they had already said.
My way is also like this my way.
Even silence is this kind of silence.
Everyone in the studio except those two had a gut feeling that filming ahead won't be easy.
And it wasn't much different for the trainees waiting backstage.
* * *
I tried to relieve tension by rubbing my palms on the hem of my pants.
Even though I've already experienced it since I've returned to the past, why is survival still survival?
It's survival because you never know what will happen.
Even if I passed last time, it might be different this time.
Previously, I finished in 6th place on 〈Targeting Star〉. I joined the Arrows through hard work. So, I couldn't help but feel nervous.
While I was chewing my lip and watching the other trainees' performances, Kim Joo-an, who had been standing far away, slowly came closer to me.
After confirming that there was no camera, Kim Joo-an opened his mouth and whispered so that only I could hear.
"Hey, Kim Chunyong."
"Don't talk nonsense and mind your own business."
Kim Joo-an was not discouraged by my warm advice.
"How about you just stop here?"
What the hell did he say?
When I looked at Kim Joo-an like a madman staring at the subway map on Line 1. Kim Joo-an had a bitter smile on his face.
"I told you clearly, Kim Chunyong. The rest is your choice."
I became more serious and spoke quietly.
"...Hey. Kim Joo-an."
"What? Are you going to act all smart and show off again by talking about things that only you know? It's really useless now. Because..."
"No, they called you."
"...what!?"
I wasn't kidding.
"Trainee Kim Joo-an? Please come up on stage!"
"Oh, my gosh..."
Kim Joo-an hurriedly went up on stage at the MC's call of his name.
"...What are you telling me? You don't even know the order in which you should go out."
I blinked, feeling a bit dazed at the sight of a somewhat lacking rodent, and regained my focus.
Putting aside the nonsense Kim Joo-an said.
Because we were from the same agency, it was my turn next.
"I'm Kim Joo-an, working hard to achieve my dream. I'll work hard!"
After the mentors' encouragement and words of wisdom, Kim Joo-an's performance followed.
A bit of a bad habit, but decent dancing, and decent vocals except for the bad vocal range.
Although he may not be that good, it was still difficult to find any noticeable flaws.
But because of that, even though he skipped practice and only prepared roughly. He eventually debuted and got on track.
I don't think his personality was the problem, I don't think he lacks talent.
But the mentors think differently.
They were kings wielding absolute power on this stage.
After Kim Joo-an's performance, the first person to take the microphone was Min Si-young seonbae.
"Trainee Kim Joo-an."
"Y-Yes, yes?"
"Just because you can't sing high notes, does that mean you'll never sing in that range again?"
"...Kkeuk."
Kim Joo-an hiccuped at senior Min Si-young's sharp criticism.
She continued speaking, clicking her tongue slightly as if she didn't like that either.
"Have you seen the previous trainees' performances? They all try to showcase their strengths, even if they're lacking, by preparing something special. But I don't see that in trainee Kim Joo-an. It feels like you just did it because someone told you to. That's not right."
Kim Joo-an received a harsher evaluation than expected.
But was it an exaggeration though? Each and every one of them is true, which makes the sentences even more painful.
This was the firm assessment of a female soloist who had taken a small agency to the big market.
Na Ji-hyeok, who took the microphone next, smiled with an embarrassed face and tried to comfort Kim Joo-an.
"You weren't bad. Both your dancing and singing were above average... I hope you don't get too discouraged. I see room for improvement. Especially the way your facial expressions change so drastically on stage. That's a huge advantage."
It's the treat that comes after the whip.
"Thank you... Thank you..."
However, because the whip that senior Min Si-young gave him was so harsh and sharp, Kim Joo-an's mental state showed no signs of returning to normal soon.
I clicked my tongue.
It was because I remembered what these mentors had said seven years ago.
"Honestly, don't you know you're not very handsome? I don't like that nose. I don't know why I even watched this show. It's not my style at all, so I'm a little... offended."
Although it was edited out because it was too harsh to be aired, Jin Dasol's and Moon Yoon-ha's evaluations were even harsher.
No, well, Jin Dasol didn't say anything and just made an 'X' with his hands.
Anyway,
"I'll work harder, hukk. I'm sorry...."
In the end, Kim Joo-an shed tears and sat down with the trainees who had already finished their performances.
Since he didn't know any of the other trainees, there was no one to comfort Kim Joo-an.
He was a thorn in my side who used to pick fights with me, but seeing him cry after getting hit with words by his mentors made me feel a little strange.
Do I feel sympathy for the person who got cursed at me?
Well, maybe I just feel bad for his face, which makes him look younger than he was.
Anyway, my useless thoughts couldn't last long.
"Now, let's meet trainees Kim Chu- ah, Kim Chun-yong!"
Now it was my turn.
I strode briskly to the center of the spotlight-filled stage and took a deep breath.
I have to smile and laugh.
Because this is everyone's first impression of me.
As bright as possible. Make it look good.
...and, to look more desperate than anyone else.
"Hello, Bom Chun! Yong Yong! This is Kim Chun Yong!"