Though he’d known it before, the members’ skills were really subpar.
At least Ryu Geon, who handled the low notes, had good physicality so he had resonance, and Jinyeong had good sense of rhythm. His high notes were also clean, and he understood quickly, so he grasped the technique right away with just a bit of guidance. Eungi’s ad-libs had excessive emotion or went off-pitch, but if you mixed in the AR appropriately, it wouldn’t be noticeable.
The problem, as expected, was the slutty man-eater idol morality destroyer Seonwoo Jin.
Seonwoo Jin’s position in the group was rapper. People well-versed in idols would sigh just hearing this much. Jion held back his rising rage and saw the members off with a smile.
“You guys go in first. I’ll practice a bit more with Woojin and then go.”
Generally, what is a rapper in a male idol group?
It’s a position given to a member whose visuals or physique are acceptable but who’s terribly bad at singing and can’t dance. Recently there are claims it’s prejudice, but at least during the period when Jion debuted and was active, that was the case.
“Woojin-ah, what kind of music do you usually listen to?”
When someone who sways when dancing and is clumsy at singing starts getting filled with that Korean hip-hop fever typical of men in their twenties, that’s when the problem becomes serious. They start hanging out with guys who grew up in the metropolitan area eating warm meals made by mom, whose only hardships are getting rejected by a girl they had a crush on and their military draft notice.
“Me? I mainly listen to Korean hip-hop……”
Seonwoo Jin’s future flashed before Jion’s eyes—wearing gold bracelets and designer goods dangling all over, doing drugs or causing assault incidents at clubs or unlicensed drunk driving, going to Japan on Liberation Day, uploading it to SNS and getting beaten like a dog.
He had to prevent this bastard from becoming absorbed in rap. Jion smiled with a desperate resolve.
“……I think your voice has a soft quality, so it would be good to put more weight toward the vocal side. What do you think?”
Seonwoo Jin was simpler and easier to handle than Jion’s memory. He was completely fooled by Jion’s sweet talk that his soft voice made singing better than rap, and began showing subtle greed.
“Should I practice a song then? For talent shows or…… well, to sing when I appear on variety shows……”
“It would be good if you could do one.”
Yet Jion smiled bitterly inside. It was true that Seonwoo Jin’s voice was close to having a soft quality, but his skill was far too ambiguous.
How should he put it…… a typical karaoke ace?
His singing skill was at a level that would earn admiration from male peers his age if he sang indie band songs in a 4-person coin karaoke room with tons of echo. Not bad enough to say he absolutely can’t sing, but didn’t meet the average people generally expected when they thought of idol “singers.”
From an instructor’s standpoint, if he came wanting to major in it around 2nd year of middle school, he’d try raising him, but if he came in 2nd year of high school, he’d probably send him back telling him to study…… His level seemed similar to Eungi’s but his vocal range was limited so tricks like high-note ad-libs were difficult……
But Seonwoo Jin’s eyes sparkled too much to coldly tell him the reality.
“Should I decide on a practice song? Something with high notes, ad-libs, and stuff like that?”
Jion had experience making even a tone-deaf groom who came for wedding song lessons sound like a human in 3 months. At the fresh and young handsome man’s enthusiasm, Jion steeled his heart.
“Right, if you practice ‘a lot’…… you can…… sing any song……”
Since Seonwoo Jin would only use his face, he just needed to be able to handle his own parts. If not, well, he could just layer it underneath. Jion found peace of mind without being swayed by Seonwoo Jin’s fluctuating pitch.
Jion didn’t expect anything like amazing singing ability or storm rapping from Seonwoo Jin. It was obvious he’d make a fuss about acting once he gained some experience after a few years anyway. And judging by the results, Seonwoo Jin achieved better outcomes as an actor than as an idol singer.
Recalling the past when press releases were distributed about starting fresh as an actor as soon as he signed the BNCZ contract termination agreement, Jion’s expression hardened for a moment.
When members were suffering because of his dating scandal and struggling with their phones trying to appease the slightly grown fanbase’s hearts, he was a selfish opportunist who found a new agency behind their backs to act.
“……Woojin-ah. But aren’t you interested in acting?”
Jion asked Seonwoo Jin while pretending to be busy organizing sheet music, hiding his expression by bowing his head. Seonwoo Jin, who was going “pu-pu-pu-pu-pu” following the mouth-opening practice Jion taught him, tilted his head as if hearing something out of the blue.
“Acting?”
“Yeah. Acting. We might end up doing individual activities and stuff in the future.”
What individual activities for a completely unknown flop idol, maybe individual battles at most. Jion thought his question was ridiculous, but to Seonwoo Jin, that question sounded like quite a serious and hopeful consultation about future plans.
“Uh…… actually…… well, if I get the chance, I’d like to try it?”
Seonwoo Jin touched his head, looking slightly embarrassed unlike usual. The way he even twisted his body—it didn’t seem like he had no interest in acting.
Just looking at him, when he debuted as an actor, he’d be the type to distribute guidelines to media outlets never to mention his idol activity name, and after success, filter out idol-era questions at the pre-interview questionnaire stage.
Thinking of the future Seonwoo Jin who treated his BNCZ days as dark history after ruining it with his own hands, Jion’s mood soured completely.
“……Really?”
“Yeah. Actually, I……”
Seonwoo Jin looked at Jion with even his face flushed as if making some grand confession. And Jion, making eye contact thinking he’d listen to whatever crap he’d spout, was inwardly startled.
……He really is handsome.
Do you know the gap moe when a sharp-edged crazy punk-like handsome man becomes innocent? Seonwoo Jin’s embarrassed face had destructive power enough to momentarily melt Jion’s aged, worn, and sharp heart.
His eye corners were sharply raised, his face lines were thin and gaunt—a face that looked like manners and courtesy had been absent for a long time—but when an innocent blush and shy smile appeared, suddenly a backstory that didn’t exist came to life. He even thought he could cover for him if rumors came out that he’d stabbed someone behind that smile.
……No, wait. He shouldn’t kill people. Is there a reason for the whole group to fall into ruin?
Jion, who hurriedly came to his senses, cut off Seonwoo Jin’s shy line with a clattering sound.
“Ugh, it’s late. The members must all be waiting. Let’s hurry back.”
Like that, for about a week, an opportunity arose to ignite motivation in BNCZ, who had been intoxicated by fleeting popularity felt only on the internet.
“You guys got a YouTube variety show schedule!”
“Awesome!”
Eungi, usually a YouTube addict, jumped with joy.
“What are we going on?”
“Don’t be shocked.”
The manager said with his nostrils flaring with excitement.
“Sol’s Dating Advice hosted by Loopy Cupy’s Sollin!”
“Crazy, fuck.”
A rough curse burst from Jion’s mouth upon hearing the program name. The members and manager were startled by Jion’s voice and turned to look at him.
“Why?”
“What, what. On-i hyung, why?”
“Ah, no……”
Jion managed his expression, remembering that his past self was an innocent, timid, gentle, soft-hearted, pure and pitiful beautiful boy.
“……I’m a fan of Sollin-ssi.”
“Ah, really?”
“Didn’t know.”
“I thought you had no interest in female idols.”
Fortunately, the members thought Jion was so excited from fan feelings that the cheap language habits characteristic of men in their early twenties slipped out. It was a cheap vocabulary choice, so Jion had no excuse either.
But the reason Jion fired off cheap-looking curses forward as soon as he heard the program name was different.
It was because Loopy Cupy’s Sollin—she was the protagonist of the scandal that ruined BNCZ’s future.
……I thought there were months left until meeting her.
It seemed the future was changing bit by bit, unlike the past, after going viral at the Uicheon Six-Clove Garlic Festival. Should he think that what will happen will happen somehow, or did Sollin’s crazy man-eating nature create an inevitable result?
Jion counted how many dating scandals Sollin had before and after Seonwoo Jin. Seonwoo Jin had no choice but to admit it when photos were taken, but after that, except for being cautious and admitting two more times when photos were taken, he denied all dating scandals for nearly 10 years.
How did they say they met back then?
Jion reviewed Seonwoo Jin and Sollin’s first meeting and the rapid romance development.
They definitely said greeting at a music show was the first time, and then Sollin sent a DM on SNS first……
After exchanging messages, they decided to meet separately……
They decided to date as soon as they met……
And in less than a month, they were photographed hugging and rubbing lips under a park lamppost without even a hat.
Why were their hands stuck on each other’s chests and buttocks again?
When a self-centered woman-eater and man-eater with nothing in their heads stuck together like lovebugs, how gleeful must the reporters following them have been?
If they’d at least worn hats, they could’ve tried some far-fetched explanation like just blowing dust from each other’s eyes.
They say sociability is also intelligence. Jion’s anger rose again at the low intelligence of the two who pulled off acts that looked low in sociability and crazy with sexual desire—revealing their faces in front of everyone, smacking and groping and kissing.
Not knowing Jion whose expression had hardened while reviewing the scandal that ended his idol life, Seonwoo Jin sneakily approached and asked.
“Do you like Sollin?”
Sure, fuck, would I like her as much as you?
“Yeah.”
“Then try getting her contact info when filming YouTube this time.”
“Contact info?”
What is this shitty idol world morality talk again? Jion looked seriously at Seonwoo Jin, but Seonwoo Jin whispered innocently as if giving a great tip.
“Go greet her, suggest taking a photo together. Then contact her saying you’ll send the photo.”
“……”
Before Jion’s eyes, he thought of several pairs of idols who filmed videos claiming to exchange challenges, then didn’t part right away but lingered unusually while exchanging strange looks. Thinking Seonwoo Jin would do that in the future, his chest suddenly burst, his stomach churned, and his head started aching.
“……No, I’m just a simple fan.”
Jion hid his shitty feelings by pretending to be shy and hurriedly looked for Ryu Geon.
“Hyung! I have something to say……”
“Hm? Jion-ah, what is it?”
“Well…… we’re going to do variety show activities and stuff now…… there are some rules I think we should establish among members.”
