“Good work, everyone~.”
“Yep! Good work.”
After the performance, The Dawn returned to the dressing room and guzzled some water.
I finished off a bottle of water as well, plunked it on the table, and then flopped down on the sofa.
The costume manager, who had approached unnoticed, was holding the velvet ribbon I had brought and tying it back into a bow when Kang Ichae poked me teasingly.
“Such an easy guy~. Untie the ribbon once more, please~.”
“Is once enough?”
As I teased back with a sly tone, Kang Ichae let out a snicker.
Seong Jiwon and Kim Seonghyeon, who had been scolded for trying to remove their cumbersome flower crowns and headbands, had to fix their outfits again, while Jeong Dajun roamed around nonchalantly.
“Hyung, hyung! When do we get to show off our abs??”
“…Jeong Dajun, stop hanging out with Kang Ichae.”
The maknae was becoming more and more like Kang Ichae.
Kim Seonghyeon looked at Jeong Dajun, who was sticking close and teasing him, with a look of disgust.
“Whoa?! The High Five-sunbae are starting!”
Aware of the camera following us for our reactions, the members quickly gathered around.
This team was also known for their hit songs.
“We go High We go High!”
“Is this a track by the Black Call-sunbaes?”
How did they end up choosing that one?
This song, a B-side track by Black Call, was popular despite never being promoted, and a dance video was uploaded on YouTube as fan service.
Clearly, Try had chosen it, but High Five had snatched it away.
Perhaps the meme of a raccoon washing cotton candy will make it into the edit?
I overheard the staff casually mentioning that Joo Woosung had also given advice to High Five, but it was so cursory and lacking in content that it would probably be entirely cut out.
“Are you ready now?
It’s time for me to leap.”
Despite that, High Five soared remarkably.
“Is it a pilot concept?”
“Seems like it.”
With an airline pilot concept, their uniforms were perfect for fandom hype, and as expected from a group from a major agency, the balance of skills among the members was exceptional.
With a solid fandom and ample financial backing, being from the same agency as Black Call, there would be many others besides Joo Woosung to offer them advice.
These guys could have pulled off a fiery performance with any song they chose.
I’m jealous.
Especially the leader, Kang Yeonhu, caught my eye.
Putting aside my initial impression of him as somewhat shady, his vocals were surprisingly good.
Seong Jiwon intently watched the monitoring screen.
“If you’re scared, don’t ride, just watch my move.”
…They’re doing well.
It seemed it wasn’t a lie to call them the next generation representative idols.
The previous three groups also had excellent performances.
But High Five was on another level.
If The Dawn had gone for a similar concept…
We would’ve been buried.
Crushed, sandwiched from above and below.
No matter how good our skills were, we were at a disadvantage, whether it was the agency, backing, or capital.
One must compensate for what they lack with something else.
“We go High We go High”
“We’ll check the rankings soon!”
At the staff’s words, Jeong Dajun clasped his hands tightly.
Not that any group here hadn’t worked hard, but under Joo Woosung’s guidance, we had practiced until we were practically throwing up, so a hint of expectation flickered on the members’ faces.
Meanwhile, I was preoccupied with other thoughts.
“Only onsite and expert votes are counted?”
After the face-off, that is, before we chose our first competition song, I sought out Lee Jihyeon.
Despite the intense workload, her face was glowing, probably because a troublesome issue had been neatly resolved.
She tilted her head and said,
“That would be difficult. The Dawn can’t win with just popularity.”
“Right, that’s what worries me.”
“Then don’t push too hard for the first competition. Or do something so compelling that people can’t help but vote.”
“…Does such a thing even exist?”
As I asked half-heartedly, Lee Jihyeon clicked her tongue and explained,
“Tsk, tsk, Seo Hoyun. You’re still a bit naïve….”
“…”
“Go get ready and steel yourself.”
For a former PD, it was a bit humiliating to hear such things.
Well, in the end, Lee Jihyeon was right.
Because the onsite reaction was tremendous.
Although at that time, Lee Jihyeon did say that it might cause a bit of a scandal.
No.
That was not something to worry about.
“Hyung! The rankings are out!”
The proof would be in the reaction later.
“Starting from third place!!”
While Jeong Dajun was making a fuss, I opened a new bottle of water.
The monitor displayed the shiny Shining Star logo.
– “Third place, TEW! TEW! Audience votes 3,100 points! Expert votes 1,000 points! For a total of 4,100 points!”
As expected…
Next.
– “We’ll announce fourth and fifth place!”
Given that Kim Seonghyeon had predicted our ranking to be fifth, everyone tensed up.
We didn’t expect to be fourth or fifth.
– “Fourth place, Bercy!”
A scream came from the next dressing room.
– “Fifth place, Try!”
That was okay too.
“…Huh?”
I was the only one who remained calm here.
The announcement for third to fifth places had ended.
– “Only first and second places are left…”
The members’ expressions gradually turned to astonishment.
In that moment, a short edited clip of High Five and our stage alternated on the screen.
“…What, what’s happening?”
– “The first place goes to—!!”
Jeong Dajun’s grip tightened around my sleeve.
The camera staff in front focused intensively on Dajun, whose reaction was notably vibrant.
– “With 4,200 points from audience votes and 1,200 points from expert votes, totaling 5,400 points, congratulations to High Five!!”
The members remained quiet, as if the result hadn’t fully registered in their minds yet.
Then, a small exclamation burst from Dajun’s lips.
“…Wow.”
– “Automatically, The Dawn’s ranking is second place. Great job!”
Second place.
The same rank The Dawn achieved in the first competition.
“…This is huge!!”
And with that, he sprang to his feet.
See.
This ranking proved the good reception to our performance.
We hadn’t set our sights away from first place, but we knew it would be tough.
Audience votes were allotted two per person, and according to the rules, one couldn’t cast both votes for the same group.
It meant that one had to vote for another group beside their own, which worked greatly in our favor, especially since High Five, having dazzled last, followed a completely different path from us.
There wasn’t much of a strategic pick.
But perhaps, considering that The Dawn was expected to rank fifth, a complacency might have played a significant part in our favor.
“Wow~~!!”
“We did it, second place~!!”
Whether High Five came first or not, the thrilled members began circling up for a round of ganggangsullae, with even the calm and composed Seong Jiwon joining in.[1]
“Hey, let’s go.”
It was about time to head to the stage for the greetings.
“Yeah, let’s go!”
Jiwon, still dazed, patted Kim Seonghyeon on the back as they left the waiting room.
As we passed by backstage, I noticed TEW, who had placed third, glancing over.
“…”
Especially TEW’s vocal, he didn’t seem too pleased.
Dajun glanced at him before uncharacteristically turning his head away with a snooty flick.
I kept an eye on the situation, smiling outwardly as we greeted each other.
“Good work.”
“…Yes, good work.”
“…Congratulations!”
The cameras were rolling.
Naturally, the members of TEW paused to look at us before offering their congratulations.
Being from an agency as big as Black Call’s WH, TEW had a sizable fandom and popularity but ended up being outperformed by us today, despite their expectations of ranking similarly to High Five.
“…second place…”
“Lea Purple…The Dawn…”
As they walked past, I caught snippets of their murmured conversations along with heavy sighs.
“…Hmm.”
Seeing our maknae, whose face hardly rested, looking at TEW as they walked ahead expressionless, I brushed my lips with my fingers.
Was it because he seemed to be flaunting his worth?
No, it was to hide a satisfied smile…
It seemed incomprehensible to them that we, the ones they thought would rank last and be buried in obscurity, had secured a high position with a song that failed to even make an impression.
Watching them forcibly smile in front of the camera with twisted expressions was amusing.
Interesting.
“Kim Seonghyeon, let’s go up.”
“Ah, okay.”
I had kept the promise I made to Kim Seonghyeon when we selected the song.
“But why do you look so satisfied?”
“We got second place.”
“…That’s true!”
However, Seonghyeon, who could never guess my real thoughts, simply walked ahead with a face brightened by our high ranking.
I matched his stride, making sure not to fall too far behind as we ascended to the stage.
Unlike the ecstatic members, I was excited about what the future held.
Bang!
At that moment, fireworks exploded, and confetti fluttered down.
It was for High Five, who had won first place in the first round of the competition.
And then—
“…”
–I locked eyes with Kang Yeonhu at the center of it all.
I was slightly amazed.
Wow…
The message in his eyes was not merely a jealous guard filled with resentment, seeing someone deemed lesser achieving a higher rank.
It was a pure sharp warning from a competitor.
Oh, this is a bit different, isn’t it?
But even that disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only an idol-like sparkling smile.
I smiled back and took the members back down to the waiting room.
“Good work, let’s head back.”
“Yap yap~.”
Jeong Dajun hopped next to me and started chatting.
“Hoyun-hyung, you know.”
“Hmm?”
“We really, really, really worked hard! I’m happy because it seems like others recognized that!”
His cheeks, still chubby with baby fat, were flushed with excitement.
“Are you that happy?”
“Yes!!”
We had proven our skills and achieved good results during the blind test, but given our lower popularity, we were significantly behind in the preliminary voting and ended up last, so this outcome was even more satisfying.
“Of course, who knows what will happen next time. But we’ll still do our best. Hard work will surely pay off!”
“…”
“…No? C-Could it be that we might not win first place?”
Dajun finished his sentence and then belatedly glanced at me, as if suddenly second-guessing himself.
“Well, yeah. That… I might have been too excited and said something a bit dream-like.”
And I wasn’t too pleased with that.
“Jeong Dajun, come here.”
“…?”
It felt like I had nurtured him with all my might, but was it still not enough?
I smoothly untied the velvet ribbon and twirled it around Dajun’s head, then tied it into a pretty bow.
It matched well with his cat ears.
“…???”
“Phew.”
Dajun looked at me with a puzzled expression.
Remembering my own twenties and still seeing Dajun as such a baby, I put my arm around his shoulder.
“…What are you doing?”
“Jeong Dajun, what are you talking about?”
“Huh?”
Thinking it would be nice to post a photo of this on The Dawn’s official SNS channel, I poked his chubby cheeks.
“I’m Seo Hoyun.”
“…And your point is?”
“Don’t you get it?”
I was someone who kept my word.
“Alright, Dajun, let’s prepare your final thoughts.”
Dajun’s eyes widened even more.
Then he quickly covered his mouth with his hands, ribbon still tied, visibly moved.
“I’m really feeling excited…”
“Getting worked up over something like this.”
I would be taking you on a rollercoaster ride to the very top spot of Shining Star.
[1] Ganggangsullae is a Korean folk dance where people, usually women, danced around by going in circles.
