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Chapter 20
Seo Baekyeong (3rd place ▲2), 2,629 votes
Kim Ryeoyu (2nd place -), 2,812 votes
Kim Geum (1st place ▲2), 3,318 votes
Although they were all in the top ranks, the changes were quite drastic.
Which, naturally, led to stronger backlash.
If I had been 4th even in the mid-evaluation, the backlash probably wouldn’t have been this intense.
Public opinion, however, was generally on my side.
That was a relief.
And it was only possible because PD Oh had cooperated.
Because PD Oh had edited the show to make it seem very questionable that I received 4th place.
And the only one who maintained their rank was Kim Ryeoyu, staying steady at 2nd place.
Considering that the current audience panel for the vote was selected by the higher-ups of COLORS, we couldn’t exactly call it clean.
In fact, public opinion toward Kim Ryeoyu was the worst.
The reason was—
Make some noise
The noise ringing in your ears
Make big noise
The sound shaking your heart
Create an earthquake
Shake the whole world
Because Kim Ryeoyu had been so nervous, she cracked her voice during the performance.
But that wasn’t all.
The original song, both in lyrics and concept, was a bold girl-crush hip-hop style—but Kim Ryeoyu’s stage was the exact opposite.
A blatant sexy concept that was divisive.
Original fans all hated it.
Most agreed she completely misunderstood the original concept.
And when it aired that Kim Ryeoyu had ignored Do Heeyoung’s advice and insisted on pushing the sexy concept, the response worsened.
Junior trainee humiliated over White Noise performance
White Noise’s biggest hit is Mavic No.
Whether fan or casual viewer, everyone agrees.
So why did Mavic No become a hit?
It was because it had a rare girl-crush concept without any exposure or sexualization.
Female fans go wild for that kind of thing.
But Kim Ryeoyu went in the opposite direction.
Of course, fans weren’t going to react well.
“I liked it tho?? Actually preferred her version over the original lol”
└“222”
└└“333 I liked Ryeoyu’s version more too”
└└└“Male fans win big here, but female fans hated it. Plus, White Noise has a rock-solid female fanbase… Personally I liked Ryeoyu’s version too. Looked great on screen… whoops……”
└└└└“This is why female fans hate it…”
“Fr, this is disgusting. The original girls worked so hard to create a non-sexy confident concept~ sigh~”
“Just lay low and you’ll do okay… who asked her to reinterpret anything?? At least make it worth defending lol”
“Like, where in the lyrics or theme is there any room for a sexy concept? It wasn’t even elegant—it was just weird.”
Since White Noise was such a popular idol group, public opinion flipped against her instantly.
“Poor Do Heeyoung…”
“She was really attentive with the junior trainees. Let them borrow her backup dancers, introduced her producer friends, etc.”
“And the trainee ignored all of her advice and did everything she was told not to do, lol”
“Ryeoyu, does this feel good now?”
“Exactly! That’s what hurts more—Do Heeyoung clearly cared so much. She went above and beyond.”
└“22222 She knew she might get criticism for being a judge, so she covered her as much as she couldㅠ and then Ryeoyu just kicked it all away”
└└“33 Like what did Ryeoyu even gain from this? Just ended up getting Heeyoung dragged…”
Still, Kim Ryeoyu gave no response.
And her agency, COLORS, remained silent as well.
Even in this frustrating situation, the shoot proceeded without delay.
After a few staged shoots for PPL (product placement), the main event returned.
It was time to reveal the second mission.
“So… the day’s finally here again.”
Yeon Juhong muttered, completely deflated.
We were both walking, ice creams in our mouths.
Mine was melon flavor, hers was strawberry.
She had bought it for me.
“Nervous?”
“Of course. Aren’t you, unnie? Actually, you didn’t even look nervous during the first mission either.”
She looked me up and down like she couldn’t understand.
“You weren’t always like this, you know. You used to be the biggest scaredy-cat.”
“…Scaredy-cat?”
“Do you drink calming herbal tonics every morning or something? Share your secrets with me, seriously.”
“I don’t take anything.”
If I did take something, it would be… experience.
In truth, I wasn’t all that nervous.
That’s because—unlike Yeon Juhong, who didn’t know what the mission was—
[Breaking News: Second Mission Revealed on ‘Make a New Color’!]
[Unlike the first round, this time it’s a group mission—]
I had already seen the mission alert pop up on my phone yesterday.
“It’s gonna be a group mission, right?”
“Of course.”
I nodded.
Even without the notification, anyone could’ve guessed that much.
“What do you think they’ll make us do? Probably something super weird again.”
“…Most likely.”
I agreed.
Because the next mission was—
[Group Mission: Build an A to Z Stage]
Once filming started, PD Oh explained the mission.
“These days, idols can’t just sing and dance well.”
Funny, considering they always told us to win people over with the performance alone.
I tried to keep a straight face despite the contradiction.
“An idol should be able to create a stage themselves.”
With a sinister smile, PD Oh switched to a prepared presentation.
“There’s a long-standing tradition at COLORS. Anyone know what it is?”
“…I do.”
It was Kim Geum.
Kim Geum speaking first was extremely rare, since she barely ever talked.
PD Oh looked thrilled.
“Oh, trainee Kim Geum. Please go ahead.”
“…That every title track is composed and written by the members themselves.”
“Correct!”
As soon as he got the answer he wanted, PD Oh paused the shoot.
After getting a few fake wrong answers out of us for footage, filming resumed.
“When you think COLORS, you think songwriting. And every COLORS group has always had at least one member skilled in composing and writing. Other members usually participate too.”
He showed us video examples:
Grayish – Lee Sol, Heeyoung
AllCOLORS – Day
White Noise – Seolhee, Doi
BurnAsh – Danha, Jae
“As you can see, every group has its own representative composer. This multi-talented image has always charmed the fans! As future COLORS idols, you can’t let that expectation down, can you?”
The more PD Oh spoke, the heavier the atmosphere became.
Every trainee here could sing and dance decently—but composing was a whole other story.
The skill gap was stark.
“But I understand not everyone’s specialty is songwriting. That’s why—”
He flipped to the next slide.
“We’ve broken the stage-making process into a few positions!”
Position 1: Composing
Position 2: Lyric Writing
Position 3: Choreography Creation
Position 4: Concept & Styling Lead
All of them were tough.
The tension was obvious in our darkened expressions.
“Each trainee must choose one position. No exceptions. Each position can only have three trainees.”
At his cue, the staff brought out twelve flags.
Each position had only three flags.
“We’ll decide who gets which position through a foot race.”
Nooooo…
Desperate groans rang out.
It wasn’t fair at all.
Not everyone had the same physical ability.
And when I thought about Yooncheong’s body… I sighed instinctively.
Her body was a mess. No muscle, no fat. Just… unusable.
No way she’d win a race.
If I had to place my bets—
“Please just let me avoid composing.”
I’d pray to fall into the group avoiding composition.
As for me, I didn’t care what I got—just not choreography.
That was the one I had the least confidence in.
Seriously, I’m not a dancer.
Most others were squeezing their eyes shut, praying they wouldn’t get composition.
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Composing, composing, composing, composing, composing…”
Kim Geum.
That was… kind of terrifying.
Given the atmosphere, it seemed like aiming for composition might be safer than choreography.
Okay.
I’m going for composition this time.
“To the starting line. Don’t step on the line.”
Ah… so that’s why we’re filming in this huge space.
They were planning a sports event.
I adjusted my stance.
“Ready… Go!”
They even used a starter pistol for dramatic effect.
I kept my eyes locked on the composition flag and dashed.
“Aaaahhhh!!!”
“Move!!!! Get outta my way!!!!!!!”
“Huff, huff—”
Wait.
I glanced behind me.
A surprising number of trainees were trailing me.
These people… Their bodies were even worse than Yooncheong’s!
I ran confidently toward the composition flag.
But just then—
“Composingcomposingcomposingcomposingcomposing—!!!”
A terrifying sound came from behind.
That’s scary.
Kim Geum, driven by pure obsession, overtook me and snatched the composition flag first.
In a daze from the shock, I reached for any flag.
But—
“Ah.”
…I hadn’t grabbed the composition flag.
