Free Web Novel“Wow···.”
Not just me—an exclamation slipped out of Shinyu’s and Suyeon’s mouths at the same time, too, right beside me.
-Lee Sion, fighting!
-Sion, even if it’s hard, get through it and let’s debut for sure!
-I’m always cheering for you
-Born-to-be idol Lee Sion!
-Your ID is zjjonSion, right?
-I’m voting every week, Sion! I love you
-I hope you’re always happy
Post-its filling the electronic billboard.
Even if I counted roughly, there had to be thousands of them, and on every single one, there was someone’s heartfelt handwriting.
Because of that, the billboard that was supposed to show my photo was now covered in Post-its, to the point where you couldn’t see anything.
Seeing that scene with my own eyes, my eyes stung a little.
“Last time, unni was way too careless.”
“That’s right! This time, asking for help was a good decision!”
Even though it was late, Suyeon and Shinyu had come out to help with my billboard tour.
-First off, I think dawn is best. If we go around 4 a.m., there probably won’t be anyone there!
-And for a disguise, a mask and a hat should be enough. If you overdo it, it stands out more, and anyway, unni, if people notice you, you’ll get recognized no matter what you’re doing.
Considering how I’d gone out without thinking at all last time and it turned into a disaster, this time I asked for advice from two trustworthy loyal retainers: Shinyu and Suyeon.
'The rest of them are dangerous.'
Seo Ryujin, Ryu Ayeon, Lee Gahyeon, and Kim Nayeon weren’t even options—without even asking, it was obvious they’d found a perfect excuse and would tease me about it forever.
And I excluded Yunkyung because lately, the frequency of betraying me had been steadily going up.
On the other hand, Shinyu and Suyeon—those two were trustworthy.
Even though they’d already “suffered” at my hands a few times, they were still sending me rock-solid trust, true loyal retainers.
“This is an event they rushed starting yesterday, but I guess that many people already came by.”
“Seriously···.”
At Suyeon’s words, as she kept letting out amazed sounds while looking at the Post-its on the billboard with me, I couldn’t help but nod.
[Please leave a Post-it message of support on Lee Sion’s billboard]
「We don’t know if Sion will be able to see it, but we want to plan a small show of support for Sion, who must have had a hard time because of this incident.
We’ve placed Post-its and writing supplies by Sion’s billboard currently up at Jamsil Station, so if you have time, please come and leave even a single line message. We’ll collect them three days from now, make them into a fanbook, and deliver it to Sion later.」
↳They work fast, I went right away and wrote one
↳The time period feels right too—if it stays up too long it’ll fall off and look ugly, but three days is exactly perfect
↳Love the idea of collecting them and making a fanbook instead of throwing them away after writing
↳What if ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) some crazy bastards show up and write weird stuff?
↳That’s why the Sionism staff will check in shifts and remove all the weird Post-its
↳Good
The KakaoTalk link Yunkyung sent me last night was about this billboard event.
My fans voluntarily opened an event to deliver messages of support for me, since I must have had a hard time because of the school-violence controversy.
'Fans···.'
Even now, the word “fans” still felt really awkward.
It wasn’t like I didn’t know there were people cheering for me, and that the number was bigger than I’d expected—I’d heard that much. But seeing it this directly made my emotions feel all mixed up.
I even started wondering whether I deserved this much support from so many people.
“Is something wrong, Sion?”
Maybe it showed on my face.
Shinyu looked at me, sensed something was off, and asked what was wrong.
“Shinyu, why do people cheer for us?”
“Huh?”
“All we did was practice hard and sing and dance, but is it really okay for us to receive this much attention and love?”
Dancing and singing were definitely fun.
The practice process was hard and difficult too, but it was fun practicing with the team while thinking about putting on an awesome stage together.
And when we actually showed that hard-prepared stage in front of people, it was an incomparable thrill.
But I still didn’t understand why people looked at someone like me and got moved.
“That’s because unni is an idol.”
“Hm?”
“Isn’t the original meaning of ‘idol’ an object of worship? It’s something I heard from a producer who used to teach me producing, but they said idols have to show people a fantasy.”
Shinyu’s expression as she explained it to me was more serious than I’d ever seen.
“They say that in the past, priests who served gods would dance and sing when there was an important ceremony. And their singing-and-dancing skill had to be so outstanding that the people watching truly believed a god existed.”
Maybe because she’d studied producing, Shinyu’s explanation wasn’t light at all, and the story going all the way back to the origin of idols was pretty interesting.
“Idols are modern priests. We have to show a fantasy to the fans watching the stage, and for that, we sweat and work hard behind the stage. And then we show the completed stage perfectly in front of people, and we receive the fans’ support.”
Modern priests.
It didn’t sound like it matched the idols I knew at all, but when I thought about it, it did.
-Idols have to show the concept and story inside a song in the short time of three minutes on stage. You’re not just someone who sings. Sometimes you have to be a vocalist, sometimes a choreographer, and sometimes an actor.
I remembered what Park Taesu, the producer for the last concept mission, had told us during training.
Back then, I hadn’t really understood Park Taesu when Park Taesu said idols had to be beings that showed all of modern art, not just one element.
Now I could understand it.
“Sion shows an amazing presence on stage, so people respond to Sion like that. Unni is the most idol-like person I’ve ever seen, so it’s only natural!”
“Hm···our Shinyu really knows how to talk.”
In the end, Shinyu’s conclusion was that it was because I was good, and I got awkward for no reason and had no choice but to ruffle Shinyu’s hair.
“Shinyu’s right. Unlike at the beginning, now Sion really feels like an idol.”
Mm.
With Suyeon chiming in too, I felt like I was gaining a bit of confidence.
Maybe this was why kings had kept flatterers beside them since ancient times.
If snake tongues like Seo Ryujin or Ryu Ayeon were here right now, then by now,
-Ew, look at this kid who just learned how to walk properly, acting up and saying they’re going to be a track athlete.
-Oh yeah? I guess what you learned just now was easy. Should we try learning something harder from now on?
They would’ve been stomping me into the ground.
“We should take a verification shot, right?”
“Of course. Hurry up, come over—let’s take one all together.”
“Uh, all together?”
“Yeah.”
At my words about taking a picture together, Shinyu and Suyeon looked flustered, but since I didn’t have an SNS account anyway, we had to “verify” using their accounts.
“Then, I’m taking it.”
I pulled Suyeon and Shinyu into my arms and took a few selfies with the Post-it-filled billboard as the background, and I managed to get a usable shot.
After that, while Shinyu and Suyeon each uploaded the photo to their own SNS accounts, I dropped the photo into the KakaoTalk chatroom.
It was dawn, so there probably wasn’t anyone to see it, but still.
***
“Our daughter, fighting!”
“Thank you, Papa. Later I’ll repay this kindness ten thousandfold.”
“Dad’s fine as long as our Sion is comfortable.”
“Xie xie.”
A long one-week vacation. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Today was the day I went back to the dorm, so I got a ride with Dad’s car all the way there.
Normally I would’ve taken the bus like always, but,
-Are you insane? If you take the bus right now, it’ll be a disaster!
When I told the others, they freaked out, so I asked Dad and came by car, and my condition was way more comfortable than usual.
Of course, for Dad—who even used a precious half-day off for me—I really planned to repay this kindness about ten thousandfold.
'Madam Sukja smacked my back a lot, so about eight thousandfold should be appropriate for her.'
After I finished my short goodbye with Dad and made sure the car was leaving, I headed toward the visitation building next to the front gate of the dorm.
Usually, whoever arrived first would be waiting there for the others.
'Never thought the day would come when I’d think a week was long.'
Seeing it again after a full week, it was a really welcome sight.
Since we always only got two-day vacations, getting a one-week vacation made resting feel boring enough to be annoying.
Of course, I did binge Chu-Han War of Supremacy, and I tried for Legend of Valley Gold (failed), so I spent it pretty well in my own way.
But my body felt restless.
I wanted to hurry and go practice a new song with the others in the practice room.
“What the hell, Lee Sion, why are you here so early?”
“I’m always diligent. When did you get here?”
Arriving at the visitation building while wondering who might already be there, I saw Ryu Ayeon waiting first.
“I just got here too.”
“Yeah? Hm···.”
“What’s with that expression?”
I was a little surprised to see Ryu Ayeon here first.
'If it were the old days, she would’ve gone straight into the dorm the moment she arrived.'
Maybe my “Ryu Ayeon has changed” education had worked—now she’d even learned to wait for the other contestants and go in together, and it was honestly kind of admirable.
“Get your hand off my head?”
“This is a top-tier compliment, you know?”
Smack!
“Gah!”
So I ruffled her hair in admiration, and Ryu Ayeon paid me back by smacking my back.
“Oh! Unnis, you got here first?”
“Oh! The kids are making a loud entrance again today?”
“Since we’re coming anyway, we came together!”
While I was bickering with Ryu Ayeon for a moment, a fancy car appeared in the distance, and out came the kid trio: Yunkyung, Shinyu, and Suyeon.
Maybe because they were close in age, they always stuck together.
Two days ago, I think it was? The three of them had even been photographed hanging out together, and it got posted on a community.
“I heard Gahyeon, Ryujin, and Nayeon are coming together too.”
“Why are those three sticking together too?”
“Ryujin’s agency is driving her by car, and they said they’re going to hitch a ride together then.”
“That’s good.”
Before, everyone used public transportation to come back to the dorm, but now it was hard to do that, so if you could get a ride, it was better to do that.
“Lately, every time I go outside, I end up being careful for real.” ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
“That’s right! People’s attention has gotten way higher than before!”
“I didn’t know this many people would recognize me and take photos.”
Like the kid trio was making a fuss about, our recognition had gone up so much that if we took public transportation, it probably would’ve been chaos.
“Our Suyeon turned into a real superstar, huh?”
“No···that’s not it!”
In particular, during this vacation, Suyeon’s recognition had gone up a lot.
-What is that live stage video that got uploaded to YouTube? There’s voting too now
-Is this the new song they’ll use for this mission? But why are there only 25 people? Where did the rest go?
-I don’t know about that, but look at the stage with Kim Suyeon. The song is really good and the kids are good too
The concept evaluation Group B live stage video uploaded to MPLAY’s official YouTube.
And the one drawing the hottest reaction among those stage videos was none other than the live stage video for our girlish pop concept team, the one Suyeon was in.
-Other teams’ videos have parts that feel kind of sloppy, but this team is really skilled and good
And of course it was—among the uploaded stage videos, we performed on site with the best skill, so in a way, it was a natural result.
“Honestly, it’s because of you, unni.”
“Huh?”
“When we were practicing, you said something to the team about only focusing on individual practice.”
“Oh, that?”
That speech I’d blurted out without thinking when I got pissed at the chaotic practice room atmosphere, right after we first heard that only five out of ten people could go up on stage for the concept mission.
“After that, our team did nothing but joint practice like crazy, so I think our stage probably came out better than the other teams.”
“Told you. It’s better than doing it half-assed.”
I didn’t realize it back then, but later, after the stage ended, when I talked with the others, they said that after hearing only five people could go on stage, the other concept teams couldn’t really do joint practice well.
And it wasn’t just what they said—you could tell even just by watching episode 7 that aired this time.
Half the episode showed each contestant fiercely competing to get on the final concept evaluation stage.
And the other half was,
“Did you see this, unni?”
Yunkyung showed me a single photo saved on Yunkyung’s phone.
“Where did you even get this?”
The photo Yunkyung showed me was a picture where my face had been pasted onto the face of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer.
[Lee Sion filming a horror movie in a variety show]
(Lee Sion suddenly shoving her face into Park Garam, who had relaxed)
↳For real, whenever Lee Sion shows up, the genre changes into a horror movie, it’s seriously creepy as hell
↳I’ll give it that Park Garam didn’t pass out there, if it were me I would’ve fainted
↳When Kim Suyeon was walking toward where someone was hiding while humming, I seriously pissed myself
↳LOL and the fact she knocked and did “Do you wanna build a snowman,” is that real?
↳If you hadn’t seen that seven-versus-one fight video, you’d have thought “why are the contestants just getting bullied like that,” but after seeing it and then seeing this, you get it—how do you even deal with that?
Battlefield Ground Zero, which aired in the latter half of episode 7, was a hot topic in a lot of ways.
My rampage with Ryu Ayeon and Seo Ryujin was being reborn into all kinds of memes and floating around the internet.
(A meme with Seo Ryujin’s face pasted onto a Mad Max bald guy)
-I···crazy Lee Sion, this is all your fault!!!
Because of that, I even got a death threat from Seo Ryujin.
A really shameless act—worthy of the name Search-jol—blaming only me even though Seo Ryujin was enjoying it at the end too.
And also,
[Idol Ground 100 warned by the Korea Communications Commission over excessive PPL]
There was even an incident where the broadcaster got disciplined because people said it wasn’t too blatant of an ad broadcast, and since I was worried maybe the problem was serious, I asked my aunt.
-Sister-in-law is probably writing an explanation with a smile. If they pulled in that much with just one disciplinary action, it’s still profit. They probably knew it was coming while they were making the map.
All I got was a lesson about the cold business world.
“Hoo···.”
“Why are you sighing?”
While we were talking about episode 7 together, Yunkyung suddenly let out a sigh.
I thought maybe it was just puberty, since it was so out of nowhere, but then, at what came out of Yunkyung’s mouth, all of us had no choice but to fall silent.
“It’s the last one now.”
“···.”
The reason we’d been given a week of rest.
We’d been deliberately avoiding saying it out loud, really.
'Guess we can’t do that anymore.'
Idol Ground 100 held a ranking announcement ceremony every time a mission ended, and they eliminated 25 contestants.
And the third ranking announcement ceremony was happening today.
I glanced at the kid trio.
All three of them, unlike just a moment ago, had stiff expressions that made it obvious they were tense.
Honestly, I wasn’t worried about Ryu Ayeon or Seo Ryujin.
But the kid trio—including Lee Gahyeon, who wasn’t here—had ranks that made it hard to say they were safe at this third ranking announcement ceremony, so if I said I wasn’t worried, that would be a lie.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to survive.”
“Me too! I’ll debut for sure and debut with Sion!”
“Boss, if I survive, let’s all get together again and watch episodes 8 and 9 together!”
Maybe they sensed my worry, because the kid trio suddenly started joking, trying hard to act bright.
“Yeah···let’s go in!”
Normally, I would’ve joked back at least once.
But right now, I felt like I shouldn’t.
'Let’s believe.'
Because I firmly believed they were going to survive.
