BLDGF 07

Chapter 7

How did people react to M10 and Colors’ ambitious new project, Make a New Color?

Better known as MenuColor.

The teaser had attracted a modest amount of interest.

Among fans of Colors’ idols, the announcement of Make a New Color had received mixed reactions.

Half excited.

Half dissatisfied.

What kind of trainees are they going to debut this time?

Why don’t they focus on promoting the idols they already have instead of debuting another group?

Still, almost everyone had at least a little curiosity.

Let’s at least see what these girls look like.

And when the self-introduction videos dropped, giving everyone their first real taste—

★

Ryu Bora: I’ll be pretty.

Me: I’ll die.

#Today’sWeatherIsBoraRainbow

I can’t look at Geumi anymore. Geumi looks like a woman to me now, and I’ve fallen in love with that woman. Knowing this love can never be fulfilled, I’m going to rip my heart out to stop loving Geumi.

Ryeoyu, I’m sixty years old. If I don’t have you, I’ll die.

The public reaction completely turned around.

As expected of Colors.

The overwhelming opinion was that, at the very least, they knew exactly how to pick trainees.

Summary of Which MenuColor Videos You Should Watch.GEUL

You probably don’t need to watch all twelve trainees unless you’re a Colors fan. This is for casual viewers.

Ryu Bora – Her face alone carries the video. Honestly, she’s the visual center. You stare at her face and one minute disappears. Her skills are decent too.

Seo Baek Young – Ten years of trainee experience really shows. She’s amazing. Feels like she’ll attract more female fans than male fans, though.

Yeon Juhong – Not outrageously talented, but somehow really charming. Cute enough to melt every anime fan’s heart.

Kim Geum – Top-tier rapper. Maybe idol fans won’t care, but somehow she’s recruiting hip-hop fans.

Kim Ryeoyu – For someone surrounded by center controversy, she’s actually really good. Honestly one of the top three in terms of skill.

Jo Heeon – Well-balanced all-arounder. Worth watching.

★★Yoon Cheong★★

• Sorry. I baited you because I wanted to promote her.

She’s the undeniable main vocalist.

A main vocalist who can dance and has visuals?

But the biggest surprise…

She can compose too.

She sang one of her own songs, and it’s seriously good.

Honestly, self-composed songs are usually a disaster.

But this one was actually amazing.

I don’t even know why it’s so good.

M10 better release the full version already.

Just give it a try.

Trust me.

She feels like she’ll carry on the Colors main vocalist legacy.

What is this, you damn weeb?

Casual viewers don’t watch stuff like this.

└ True. Probably only Colors fans lol. (Says the Colors fan.)

But honestly, Yoon Cheong is insanely good. You can’t even argue with that.

Of course, the trainee receiving the most attention was—

Who is this Yoon Cheong girl? I watched without expecting anything and now I’m obsessed.

Me.

★

I wasn’t expecting anything from her, and she’s the best one…? As expected of Colors’ main vocalists…

Did you watch Yoon Cheong’s one-minute self-introduction? It was incredible.

A Colors trainee singing her own original song in a one-minute introduction.

Today was the first day in a while without filming.

That didn’t mean it was a day off.

A day without schedules was simply a practice day.

That was an unwritten rule.

Especially since we had more filming coming up soon.

“Hello.”

I greeted everyone as I opened the practice room door.

“Oh, hi, Cheong.”

“Good morning!”

The atmosphere in the practice room had definitely changed.

Before, people barely acknowledged my greetings.

Now everyone greeted me back.

At the same time, I could feel everyone’s attention focused on me.

This was exactly why OTube, social media, and online communities were so terrifying.

People’s reactions appeared in real time, completely unfiltered.

And there was no way trainees wouldn’t look at them.

Their debuts depended on it.

I acted as I always did.

Just because I’d attracted a little attention now didn’t mean anything.

This was only the beginning.

If I slipped up even a little…

I’d end up right back as one of the candidates for last place.

After warming up, I played the choreography demonstration video again.

The choreography for Rainbow, MenuColor’s first main song.

The very performance that would open Episode 1.

Figures.

With a company called Colors, of course the first song would be called Rainbow.

For something like this, the center position is important.

I heard the center had been decided immediately.

Without any discussion whatsoever.

By none other than Director Kim.

For no stated reason.

Completely unfairly.

“Isn’t that going too far? They know how important the center is, and they still picked someone that unfairly…”

“Seriously. It’s so obvious they’re playing favorites.”

“Hey, keep it down. Someone might hear.”

Maybe that was why so many trainees were dissatisfied.

…I’d overheard them talking on my way here.

“Unni!”

It was Yeon Juhong.

According to Yoon Cheong’s memories, she was what people called the “perfect maknae.”

Full of aegyo.

Bright.

Always following her older teammates around.

Though…

For some reason, Yoon Cheong’s memories also said she could be strangely scary at times.

…I’d have to wait and see what that meant.

I doubted it meant she was literally frightening.

It probably meant something else.

“Yeah?”

“Did you hear who got picked as our center?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Seriously, isn’t this crazy? How could they decide without even discussing it with us first?”

“Haha.”

“I swear, I’m being born rich in my next life.”

Without really waiting for my response,

Yeon Juhong rambled energetically before running off again.

She was like a whirlwind.

“…You heard too, huh?”

This time it was Seo Baek Young.

Everyone had suddenly started acting friendly toward me.

Then I realized why.

Because I was now considered one of the likely debut candidates.

“What are you referring to?”

“That girl becoming the center.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

Seo Baek Young let out a sigh.

“You don’t seem very angry.”

“Ah, no. I was never really considered a center candidate in the first place.”

My honest answer made Seo Baek Young flinch.

At least she’d once been considered.

Yoon Cheong had never even been in the discussion.

“Well… I guess there’s no point complaining to you about it. Sorry. Go back to practicing.”

I simply nodded and resumed practicing the choreography.

Oh, you want to know who the center was?

There was only one possible answer.

Kim Ryeoyu.

“We’ll do a microphone check before we begin!”

This was one of M10’s studios.

Normally it was used for music shows.

But today it had been specially prepared for MenuColor.

The set looked surprisingly nice.

Since the song was called Rainbow, they’d built a colorful rainbow-themed stage.

It was the kind of concept that could easily have looked tacky.

But somehow…

It didn’t.

Instead, it felt fresh and youthful.

As expected of a major company.

Money really could make even cheesy concepts look expensive.

I suddenly remembered my original agency.

I hadn’t come from a major company.

I’d come from a tiny one.

Calling it “small” was being generous.

…Though these days people considered it a mid-sized agency.

Of course,

that was because of me.

Back when I debuted,

it had practically been a one-person company.

I was their only artist.

Naturally, they had no money.

And even less influence.

CEO Seo didn’t really have anything going for him except persistence and sheer determination.

…Well.

I suppose he did have a good eye.

After all,

he’d found me.

“We’re going to do one rehearsal first. Everyone remembers the basics, right? Look at whichever camera has its tally light on.”

Producer Oh rolled up his script and pointed it at the trainees.

Seriously…

What a personality.

I glanced toward the cameras.

The red tally lights were on.

So they were filming this too.

I’d better stay sharp.

“Alright! Double-check your formations! Pay attention to your spacing! The stage isn’t the same as the practice room!”

I nodded before looking toward Seo Baek Young.

Feels like it’s your turn now.

“Everyone, be careful. This stage is a little dangerous. There’s a ledge here, so don’t step outside the edge. If you fall and twist your ankle here, you’re done for. Got it?”

Just as expected,

Seo Baek Young, being the senior trainee, was going around giving advice to everyone.

“Gyeong-ah and Cheong, you’re both on the ends, so be extra careful. Okay?”

“Yes!”

“Suin and Heeon, watch your spacing. Your distance is off right now. Just because there aren’t any mirrors doesn’t mean you can’t keep your formation.”

Seo Baek Young started with the trainees at the edges before gradually making her way toward the center.

“Ryeoyu, you’re the center, so you know you have to perform the best, right?”

Oh.

There was definitely a hidden barb in those words.

Producer Oh must have thought the same thing.

He immediately directed one of the cameras toward the two of them.

What an annoying man.

Honestly,

when I first heard Kim Ryeoyu had been chosen as the center without any discussion,

I couldn’t understand it.

Choosing the center would have made great television.

Competition between the trainees.

Their passion.

The performances shown during the selection process.

All of it was perfect content.

So why would Producer Oh throw away such an obvious source of entertainment and simply hand the center position to Kim Ryeoyu?

Why?

But I quickly figured it out.

“Of course I do. Thank you, Unni.”

Producer Oh intended to milk the pre-selected center controversy itself for content.

Though that was strange.

I’d naturally assumed Producer Oh and Director Kim were working together.

Maybe they weren’t.

Then again…

Producer Oh had never been the type to tolerate someone standing above him.

Was it pride over money?

I briefly wondered which of those two stubborn people would eventually win.

Then I stopped.

No matter who won,

I doubted I’d feel happy about it.

“What’s there to thank me for? If you’re grateful, just do well.”

Both of them smiled brightly because the cameras were rolling.

But every word they exchanged carried hidden thorns.

Which made sense.

If the center had been chosen based on dancing,

it should have been Seo Baek Young.

And if it had been chosen based on visuals—

Well, beauty was subjective, so you couldn’t pick only one person…

But it definitely wouldn’t have been Kim Ryeoyu.

I looked around at all twelve trainees.

Yeah.

If I absolutely had to choose someone based purely on visuals,

it would be Ryu Bora.

Great proportions.

Probably thanks to her acting background, her facial expressions were excellent too.

And above all,

her face was simply outstanding.

She had the ideal image of a center.

“Everyone ready? Let’s begin the rehearsal!”

Regardless,

Yoon Cheong still wasn’t in a position to be the center.

People acknowledged she had the qualities of a main vocalist.

But everything besides her vocals was still considered lacking.

After all,

people’s opinions of someone couldn’t be overturned by a single performance.

…And besides,

I didn’t need to be the center right now.

I’d actually rather avoid it.

The center position?

Sure.

It’s the easiest place to grab everyone’s attention.

But being the center from the very beginning is a double-edged sword.

If someone deserving stands in that position,

they’ll shine.

But I knew better than anyone…

how mercilessly an undeserving center could be torn apart.