BLDGF 12

Chapter 12

The trainees all moved to the practice room next door.

Practically as if they had been kicked out.

As soon as they were all gone, several key staff members and the judges immediately went into an emergency meeting.

“What was that?”

The first to speak was Director Kim.

“Wonho. Was he always that good?”

Director Kim asked the dance trainer, Jo Wonho, with an irritated expression.

“He used to be seriously terrible at dancing.”
“I was shocked.”

Do Hee-young looked just as stunned.

“He was better than me.”
“…He might even be better than the CEO.”

Even vocal trainer Kang Soon-hwa spoke in disbelief.

Everyone in the room was in shock.

“Come on, it’s not that much. He was just so bad before that he looks better now.”

When you have no expectations for someone, they can seem even better than they actually are.

Everyone nodded at Jo Wonho’s words.

Even so, the improvement was unbelievable.

“Well… he wasn’t even originally in the debut lineup, right?”

“He was. Since we didn’t have a main vocalist, we were planning to add him at the end as the judges’ pick.”

“No, that was our idea. Originally, we were just going to throw him in as the punching bag so all the controversy surrounding the other kids would be buried.”

Director Kim casually said something that would have horrified Yoon Cheong if he had heard it.

“If he keeps this up, he’ll probably debut without any problems.”

The public had sharper eyes than anyone.

If someone’s skills were overwhelmingly superior like that—

“…He could even end up taking first place.”

There would be no stopping his debut.

Yoon Cheong’s performance had truly stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

It was only natural.

It was like dropping a top idol with ten years of experience into a group of trainees.

And Baek Nokha was famous even among those veteran idols for exceptional skill.

But of course, no one here knew that.

“I seriously thought he’d taken something. He wasn’t nervous at all.”

“…Maybe he had a little soju before coming?”

Do Hee-young muttered to herself.

It was a trick she occasionally used back in her rookie days.

Director Kim shot her a glare.

It clearly meant, Stop saying pointless things.

“This is becoming a problem.”

Director Kim looked thoroughly displeased.

And for good reason.

His plan had been simple.

Put Yoon Cheong—the trainee who was obviously going to be the least popular—into the debut lineup.

What did the public love tearing apart the most?

When the company chose someone the audience hadn’t chosen.

Sometimes they attacked that even more viciously than personality scandals or other controversies.

Director Kim was certain Kim Ryeoyu would debut.

With favorable editing as the PD’s pick and a carefully crafted storyline, he’d naturally have the advantage.

Besides, Kim Ryeoyu wasn’t untalented.

Among the trainees, he was actually one of the better ones.

But he had one fatal flaw.

His past.

He had been a school violence perpetrator.

No matter how much they tried to bury it, Director Kim knew something very well.

Some things could never be buried through ordinary means.

So instead, he planned to use another target to absorb all the hate and hide Kim Ryeoyu behind it.

And that target was Yoon Cheong.

A timid trainee who trembled whenever he stepped onto a stage.

Someone who had entered the debut lineup several times only to be eliminated each time.

Desperate.

Earnest.

But just not quite enough.

The perfect person to exploit.

And yet…

“You admitted it right away?”

“Yes. Because it’s true.”

The bold way he had answered earlier.

The nearly flawless performance.

Everything about him had been astonishing.

He looked even more like the ace than Seo Baek-young did.

Enough to make them wonder why they had never noticed him before.

“…What should we do?”

PD Oh cautiously asked.

“The debut lineup stays the same. Kim Ryeoyu, Seo Baek-young, Kim Geum, Jo Hee-on, and Yoon Cheong.”

Director Kim answered firmly.

“For now, reduce Yoon Cheong’s screen time. Cut that performance entirely.”

“What?”

PD Oh’s eyebrows shot upward.

Even after directing music shows for three years, he considered that performance legendary.

It was impossible to believe a mere trainee had prepared it in only three days.

If it aired, it would unquestionably become a hot topic.

Forget becoming a hot topic.

If he wanted to, PD Oh was confident he could make Yoon Cheong finish in first place.

A talent like that would raise ratings.

After all, one extraordinary star was often enough to carry an entire show.

Especially an audition program like this.

And now they wanted him to cut that performance completely?

“That’s impossible. Even if we cut the interim evaluation, we can’t cut the main performance. Every final stage will be uploaded to OTube.”

Every performance was uploaded to OTube exactly as it happened, without editing.

Once that happened, there would be no hiding it.

If anything, people would criticize them for editing out such an incredible performance.

They’d call the broadcasters insane.

In the worst-case scenario, people would even suspect the competition had been rigged.

Plenty of people had already ruined their careers trying to manipulate audition shows.

PD Oh didn’t mind a little behind-the-scenes manipulation.

But he had no intention of doing something that obvious.

Especially not because someone else told him to.

“Do we really need to upload the evaluation performances to OTube before the live shows?”

But Director Kim was just as stubborn.

“It was already approved during the planning meetings. These days, if it’s not on OTube, it’s hard to generate buzz.”

Who even watched live broadcasts anymore?

People watched everything through OTT platforms and OTube now.

PD Oh clicked his tongue inwardly.

How could an entertainment company director be so out of touch?

He actually had quite a few complaints about Director Kim.

He didn’t know what the man had done to upper management, but it must have been impressive.

The station director had practically ordered him to listen to Director Kim whenever possible.

But that only applied as long as it didn’t cross the line.

This had crossed it by a mile.

PD Oh wasn’t about to ruin his own career because of an out-of-touch executive.

“But still—”

“Director Kim.”

PD Oh raised a hand, cutting him off.

“If the ratings flop or a manipulation scandal breaks out, are you going to take responsibility instead of me?”

“…”

“Will you publicly say that every decision was made under your orders? No? That’s what I thought.”

PD Oh stood up as though there was nothing more to discuss.

“Judge however you like. That’s entirely up to the judges.”

“…!”

“If you want to suppress trainee Yoon Cheong, then suppress him through the evaluation. Say he wasn’t very good. Criticize him all you want.”

“I’ll make sure every bit of it gets broadcast.”

Works for me.

The comments would be flooded with people attacking Director Kim.

Even hate generated publicity these days.

PD Oh grinned.

“But I’m showing Yoon Cheong’s performance in full. It’ll even be in the preview.”

Anyone with eyes could tell that kid was going to become famous.

PD Oh might not have much integrity—

But he certainly wasn’t blind.

Filming resumed, and the trainees returned to the practice room.

Not only the judges but the trainees themselves were surrounded by tension.

Most of them looked exhausted.

Or discouraged.

Very few had received good evaluations.

And…

“…”

Yoon Cheong had simply been too overwhelmingly good.

From their perspective, it would have been much better if everyone had performed badly together.

It was comforting when everyone struggled.

Being the only one who struggled was miserable.

Of course, that wasn’t realistic.

If someone had to perform well, it was easier to accept when it was someone who had always been good.

Kim Ryeoyu, Kim Geum, and Ryu Bora had always been considered likely debut candidates.

Kim Geum was the only rapper.

Kim Ryeoyu was Director Kim’s relative.

And Ryu Bora already had exceptional name recognition.

But…

Yoon Cheong wasn’t.

Everyone looked utterly bewildered.

Maybe the intro choreography had been a fluke.

Maybe he’d just obsessed over that one section and gotten lucky.

But that performance wasn’t luck.

The trainees who had practiced alongside him knew that better than anyone.

Every single one of them had been completely overwhelmed.

In an instant, Yoon Cheong had gone from a last-place candidate…

To a first-place contender.

That carried enormous implications.

“…We’ll now begin trainee Yoon Cheong’s evaluation.”

First—

People rarely accepted it easily when someone they had always considered beneath them suddenly surpassed them.

If someone who had always been good stayed good…

Fine.

That couldn’t be helped.

But someone you thought was worse than you becoming better?

That was impossible to accept.

It was infuriating.

“Yoon Cheong, please come forward.”

“Yes.”

Second—

This created another opportunity.

The trainees had already begun to suspect something.

They believed the company intended to debut Yoon Cheong through the judges’ pick.

Since he probably wouldn’t be popular enough, they’d use the judges’ selection to debut him as the main vocalist.

“…You were excellent. Honestly, there wasn’t a single flaw. You could debut immediately and no one would find it strange.”

But what if that Yoon Cheong ended up being better than everyone else?

Then the judges’ pick slot would become vacant.

“Thank you. I’ll work even harder.”

“I hope you can show this same level of skill during the final evaluation.”

After a few more words of praise, the interim evaluations finally came to an end.

As expected, Director Kim hadn’t said a single word.

Only the trainers and Do Hee-young had praised him.

Next, it was time to meet their mentors.

But then—

“We were originally planning for everyone to meet the mentors today.”

Director Kim picked up the microphone again.

“However, we’ve run into a slight scheduling issue, so we’ll postpone it until next time. Thank you all for understanding.”

The trainees quietly glanced at one another.

Everyone assumed that the “scheduling issue” Director Kim mentioned was Yoon Cheong.

Even Yoon Cheong himself.

“We’ll just announce the interim evaluation rankings.”

Do Hee-young began revealing the rankings one by one.

“First, we’ll save 12th place and 1st place for last. In 11th place… trainee Park Ha-eun.”

As Do Hee-young continued speaking, the rankings gradually appeared on the screen.

Whenever their names were called, each trainee stepped forward.

11th — Park Ha-eun

10th — Lee Ju-seon

“And… in 9th place, trainee Yeon Ju-hong.”