Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 28

Today is the start of the second round of training for “Pick Heart” filming.

That means it’s time for me to leave Go Soo-jong’s grandfather’s house.

When I told him yesterday while packing that I would be leaving the next morning, he replied.

“Is that so? I was wondering when to kick you out, so it’s good that you’re leaving on your own.”

…His response was blunt.

Still, he seemed a little sad.

“What are you staring at like that?”

Sad…

“If you’re going to leave, don’t drag it out. Just get out of here, you lazy boy.”

Let’s just drop it.

‘Still, I kind of liked staying here.’

I helped with housework, played some phone games for the first time during my free time, played Janggi (Korean chess) with grandfather. When it got dark, I laid out my blanket on the warm floor and slept.

It was a much more wholesome and regular life than what I was doing in reality.

As I checked my luggage one last time to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, Grandfather, who was watching me from the living room, pulled out a bundle from the refrigerator.

It was quite heavy when I took it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s got dried persimmons, tangerines, and other stuff. Eat it on your way.”

“It’s okay, there’s no need for this…”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. Take it quickly before I change my mind.”

“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”

During the last training, when we practiced non-stop until late at night, our stomachs would get empty since dinner had already been digested.

Trainees would nibble on snacks they bought from the convenience store during the day to stave off hunger.

I remembered that by the end of the training, even the convenience store stocks had run out, so I stopped pretending and hugged the bundle like it was survival food.

Grandfather, who had threatened not to see me off last night, came to the front door and watched me press the elevator button.

“Then, I’ll be going. Thank you for everything.”

“It’s fine.”

“Grandfather, even if you call because you miss me, I won’t be able to answer for a while.”

“Who’s going to call? You’re drinking kimchi soup from early in the morning.”

It was still before sunrise, so the light was dim, and the front light was off, making it hard to see Grandfather’s expression.

Still, I somehow felt that he wouldn’t have a very grumpy expression.

A little later, the elevator arrived with a ‘ding’ sound. As the door opened, the light from the elevator illuminated the dark space.

I mustered the courage and gave Grandfather a hug. It took a bit more courage than I thought.

Before Grandfather could say anything grossed out, I quickly let go and entered the elevator. Then, a notification popped up.

[Go Soo-jong now thinks of you as a grandchild he would cherish even if it hurts to keep you in his sight. Go Soo-jong’s affection +15, current affection +90]

Finally, through the small window of the elevator door, I saw a faint smile on Grandfather’s wrinkled face.

* * *

As I rode the bus to the training center, the sky gradually lightened, but it was cloudy as if it was about to rain, making me feel a bit gloomy.

It might be because I was starting another stressful training.

This training would last for five days. Although I hadn’t heard the details yet, it would be the period to prepare for the evaluation stage to be shown in front of the audience for the first time.

I got off at the stop near the training center and walked up to the training center.

“Huff… Huff…”

It was tough. I was pulling a heavy suitcase up the hill while others drove up.

Just as I started sweating on my back, I arrived at the building with a sign that said ‘Pick Your Heart Filming Location.’

When I entered, the staff were greeting the trainees.

I sent a text to Go Soo-jong Grandfather, saying I had arrived safely and handed in my phone as I had done last time.

After placing my suitcase to the side, another staff member put a piece of paper with ‘On Raon’ written on it on my suitcase.

“You can change your clothes over here, put on your name tag properly, and then head over there.”

“Okay.”

This time, the clothes I received were a mint-colored sweatshirt with the “Pick Heart” logo on the chest and black training pants. There was a small brand logo on the neck part.

The back had a large ‘B’ printed on it, indicating that the colors varied by mentor evaluation grades.

When I entered the auditorium, where the heater was moderately on, making it warm, trainees wearing sweatshirts of various colors were gathered in groups, chatting.

Compared to the previous waiting room situation, where no one could easily speak, this was quite a change.

Kim Jun-woo, who was with Yoon Myung-soo, a fellow trainee from Wes Music, saw me and gestured for me to come over.

For reference, the C-grade sweatshirts of Kim Jun-woo and Yoon Myung-soo were light purple.

Unlike the vivid primary colors of the class-specific T-shirts, these grade-specific sweatshirts were generally in soft pastel tones, which were easy on the eyes.

“You’re here? The guy with the 4-minute 59-second longing look.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Kim Jun-woo, who started with that instead of a greeting, clearly wanted to tease me, so I decided to be shameless about it.

“……I hope the broadcast starts soon. So the misinformation that On Raon is a ‘longing guy’ can be corrected.”

“Hello, Myung-soo hyung.”

I greeted Yoon Myung-soo, ignoring Kim Jun-woo appropriately.

“Oh, hi. I’ve heard a lot about you from Jun-woo. Feel free to speak comfortably.”

“Oh really? Got it, Myung-soo hyung.”

Shortly after, Jing Xiao arrived and, along with Ok Do-yoon, another trainee from the same Rui Gen Entertainment, waved at us from the other side.

Nagase Ritsu, who also greeted us politely for a moment, was with other Japanese trainees.

“Wow, I thought I was going to be late.”

Ban Yo-han, who arrived just before the assembly time, came over to our side with Seo Moon-gyeol. The A-grade Seo Moon-gyeol’s sweatshirt was light pink.

“Hi.”

Seo Moon-gyeol said just that and leaned against a nearby wall with his eyes closed. It was still early, not even 7 AM, so he seemed quite tired.

I’ve always felt that Seo Moon-gyeol wasn’t very talkative. I wondered if it would be hard for someone like him to get airtime in a place like this.

Of course, Seo Moon-gyeol, who was handsome and had A-grade skills, wasn’t someone I should be worrying about.

While we were chatting about trivial things, it was almost time for the filming to start.

“Filming is about to start. Please line up under the temporary stairs over there, starting with A-grade!”

Following the staff’s instructions, the trainees lined up on the four-tiered temporary stairs on one side of the auditorium.

After all the trainees had taken their places, the auditorium door opened, and the ever-beautiful Jena walked in with a microphone.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Hello!”

The trainees greeted Jena with a bow. Jena, smiling pleasantly, began to speak.

“Is everyone feeling tired?”

“No!”

“Really?”

“Yes…!”

“No….”

The mix of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sounded like ‘yes-no.’

With the relaxed atmosphere, Jena laughed briefly and said.

“From today, the ‘Pick Your Heart’ training for the evaluation starts again. You are all entering the real competition now. Are you all ready?”

With nervous faces, the trainees shouted in unison, “Yes!”

“If so, that means you are also ready for the possibility of being eliminated after the mission, right?”

The unexpected mention of elimination made the trainees’ faces stiffen without a moment to manage their expressions.

Jena paused for a moment before declaring.

“The number of trainees who will survive the first ranking announcement is… 64.”

This meant that over one-third of the trainees would disappear at once. But I thought that 64 was still quite a lot to survive.

The trainees exchanged tense glances with each other.

“Your second evaluation task, which will determine survival and elimination, is the mentor song cover evaluation.”

At that, the trainees let out a sigh.

Covering the songs of mentors like Jena and Muk Hye-sung in groups was a heavy burden.

Jena continued without concern.

“You will cover songs from me, Serendipity, Pluto, Jupiter, Rosetta, Chronicle, and Upon, the senior group that debuted through Season 1. Your mission is to cover the songs of one solo singer and six idol groups.”

I could imagine about forty-seven different curses that fans might hurl if we didn’t cover their favorite songs properly.

“While detailed rules will be disclosed later, basically, two teams will compete with one song. You will first choose which mentor’s song to cover, and then the song will be revealed.”

Jena paused for a moment.

“Before deciding which mentor’s song to cover, you need to select your team to prepare for the stage, right?”

“Yes!”

“One trainee will nominate a teammate, and the nominated trainee will nominate the next teammate. This continues until seven members are selected. Then we move on to the next team selection. There will be two teams per mentor, making a total of fourteen teams.”

So, two people would be left out in the end. What would happen to those two?

As I ponder

ed this, Jena, who was scanning the trainees like searching for prey, made eye contact with me.

I immediately thought I was in trouble as she smiled mischievously and said.

“Trainee On Raon, you seem to have something to say.”

A camera turned towards me, and the trainees’ eyes focused on me.

It felt like I had to speak, so I answered in a non-conspicuous voice.

“If fourteen teams are formed with seven members each, there will be a total of 98 members, but we have 100 trainees, so two will be left out.”

Jena lightly nodded her head.

“Yes, that’s correct. When fourteen teams of seven are formed, two will be left. So, the last two teams among the fourteen will each take one of the remaining trainees.”

An 8-member team would be at a disadvantage compared to a 7-member team in terms of part distribution and other issues.

What if no one picked me until the end?

I got nervous and tapped Ban Yo-han, who was right next to me, and spoke with my eyes.

‘I’ll pick you when it’s my turn, so you pick me too!’

Of course, Ban Yo-han, who was worth more than one person just with his looks, didn’t seem as desperate as I was.

Ban Yo-han blinked his clear eyes a few times with a face that was hard to read whether he understood or not and then turned his head forward.

‘Don’t pretend you don’t know, you sly fox!’

There was no way that clever guy didn’t understand my intention.

Meanwhile, Oh Hyun-jin, who had been the overall center of Heart Attack, stepped forward to pick the first teammate, and I couldn’t help but pay attention.

“The trainee I will pick is….”

As expected of someone from a major agency, Oh Hyun-jin knew how to create suspense.

The anxious trainees murmured softly in protest.