BLGDF 64

Chapter 64

“!”

At yet another twist, everyone covered their mouths with their hands.

But of course, the most shocked person was Lee Joo-seon herself.

She just stared at me, unable to say anything.

I could sense the embarrassment and guilt on her face.

…Well, I guess I can at least congratulate her, right?

Surely no one’s going to curse her out just because I said congratulations.

“You did great, Joo-seon. Seriously, well done. I’m happy for you.”

“Unnie….”

I sincerely congratulated her.

Even if our relationship had been rocky at first, I’d seen all the effort she put in since then.

I was relieved.

4th place

Ryu Bora – 141,383 votes (–)

3rd place

Seo Baek-young – 149,482 votes (▲2)

2nd place

Kim Geum – 157,890 votes (–)

Fortunately, the other trainees only had some shuffling within the ranks; there wasn’t any earth-shattering change.

The biggest thing was how much Seo Baek-young had climbed.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that both Ryu Bora and Seo Baek-young were safely within debut range.

That was good.

Especially Baek-young—she’d been so afraid she might not debut, so this was a huge relief.

But feelings are feelings.

I couldn’t get too close to them, so I just stayed put.

I didn’t want my presence to become a nuisance.

But then—

“…Come here, everyone.”

Baek-young stepped forward first and hugged Ryu Bora and Kim Geum.

It happened so quickly, I didn’t even have time to refuse.

“…Congratulations.”

Seriously, these people are way too affectionate for their own good.

I was nervous, but… I still patted them gently on the back.

If anyone gets cursed out, it should just be me.

Anyway, that leaves only two trainees.

Bang Soo-in and Kim Ryeo-yu.

The first place is obviously—

“The grand first place goes to…”

1st place

Kim Ryeo-yu – 191,239 votes (▲2)

11th place

Bang Soo-in – 11,293 votes (▲1)

“Trainee Kim Ryeo-yu! Congratulations!”

As expected, it was Kim Ryeo-yu.

It wasn’t a surprising result, so I just clapped quietly.

And when Ryeo-yu finished her camera greeting and sat back down—

“Ryeo-yu, congratulations.”

I offered my congratulations.

“Thanks, Cheong-ah. Congrats on 6th place to you, too. Even if you dropped a bit, it’s still a high rank.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just really happy you got first place.”

Because when your ugly truth comes to light, it’ll make me even happier.

“But it’s not over yet. The last mission benefits still haven’t been added.”

Ah, right.

That meaningless benefit.

I stayed silent.

“The MVP benefit is 20,000 votes. The MVP of MVP’s entire team gets 15,000 votes each. And the MVP of MVP themselves gets 50,000 votes. However, if someone has already received the MVP of MVP benefit, they won’t also receive the MVP benefit. In other words, no double-dipping. Now, here are the rankings after benefits are applied.”

…

7th place – Lee Kyung-ah
92,937 + 15,000 = 107,937 votes

6th place – Ryu Bora
141,383 + 15,000 = 156,383 votes

5th place – Seo Baek-young
149,482 + 20,000 = 169,482 votes

4th place – Kim Geum
157,890 + 20,000 = 177,890 votes

3rd place – Yoon Cheong
132,048 + 50,000 = 182,048 votes

2nd place – Lee Joo-seon
139,782 + 50,000 = 189,782 votes

1st place – Kim Ryeo-yu
191,239 votes

It really was a meaningless benefit.

The only thing that stood out was Kim Ryeo-yu.

She held on to first place without any benefits at all.

‘…100% guaranteed, the timeline’s gonna be flooded with “Kim Ryeo-yu secured 1st place without benefits!”’

Of course, I expected her to dominate.

She got a massive sympathy boost from casual viewers who only saw the recent controversy.

The public rallied around the idea of “We have to make sure Kim Ryeo-yu gets 1st place.”

So even people who normally had no interest in MenuCall suddenly signed up for the M10 site just to vote for her.

I guess I should just be grateful it stopped at 190k.

“Alright, that concludes the rankings after adding benefits. Hopefully this helps you choose your teammates for the final mission. Once you form your teams, there will be no changes, so think carefully. It’s the last mission, after all.”

Yeah.

This is basically the final chance to show off our relationships to the fans.

And relationships? A double-edged sword.

If you’re close to someone the fans like, that’s a plus.

But if you’re close to someone they hate, that’s a huge minus.

You know that saying:

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

And when you’re in a scandal as big as mine?

…It’s not just a minus score—it’s like dragging everyone into hell with me.

Of course no one would want me on their team.

Terrible timing.

If only I could clear things up before team formation.

As it is, no one will want to team up with me—

“Cheong-unnie. Let’s be on the same team.”

“Huh?”

I let out a dumb sound without thinking.

As soon as PD Oh finished speaking, Ryu Bora immediately suggested it.

Is this girl out of her mind?

“No, Bora, if you team up with me—”

“I’m joining too! I’m 3rd in actual votes. Count me in.”

“…?”

Even Seo Baek-young?

Why would I ever say no to that?

But seriously, this is a losing deal for them.

“Me too!!!”

And now Yeon Ju-hong suddenly scoots over like she’s been listening in.

“Why is everyone so fast? No cutting in line! I called dibs on Cheong-unnie first. And I mean it literally. I drooled on her.”

“…When did you do that?”

“When you were sleeping. Haha.”

Kim Geum, who was next to Ju-hong, joined in too.

What is happening right now?

Have they all gone mad?

They need to debut. If they stick with me, they might not.

While I was frozen, not knowing what to do, someone else walked over.

“…Is there still a spot?”

It was Lee Joo-seon.

She hesitated, looking unsure.

“Oh, Joo-seon!”

Even Kim Geum clapped, surprised at her choice.

I was surprised too.

Honestly, I thought it was obvious she’d join the other side.

Maybe she feels guilty about bumping me down?

If that’s the case, she really doesn’t need to.

She played fair and square.

“With Joo-seon, that makes six—”

“Wait!”

Then Lee Kyung-ah quickly raised her hand.

“Wait, wait! Count me in too!”

…Wow, that’s unexpected.

Sure, we were in the same team before, but I didn’t think she trusted me this much.

But judging by her expression, she had her reasons.

She glanced at the camera, switched off her mic, and whispered to me.

“I… just want to avoid Ryeo-yu.”

So that’s it.

Yeah, they had some pretty bad clashes over the main vocal spot.

“Is that okay? Will it work? Can I join?”

“Unnie… Are you sure? It’ll be risky for you to team up with me.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But?”

“Honestly, I think my debut chances are gone. So at least I want to feel at ease for this last mission.”

That’s… brutally honest, but reasonable.

“I’m switching to another agency anyway, so why should I force myself to stick with her?”

“I mean… you’re not wrong. But still, the competition isn’t over till it’s over.”

“And honestly? I’m done with COLORS.”

Her eyes were dead serious.

“They’re all about favoritism and pushing certain people. I’m out. I thought being the dragon’s tail would be enough, but now I’d rather live as a snake’s belly.”

“What do you mean snake’s belly? You’re at least the snake’s head.”

“I don’t want to live big like that. I just want to live decently. I want to sing, not be a superstar.”

“…Well, if that’s how you feel.”

Feels like I just heard Kyung-ah’s real feelings for the first time.

It sounds a bit half-baked, but… everyone’s different.

And I can’t say I don’t understand her.

Now the problem is the headcount.

If Kyung-ah joins, it’ll be seven versus four—a pretty big imbalance.

Is that okay?

I looked at all those eager eyes on me and finally said:

“If there are too many people, you’ll have fewer parts to sing. It might disadvantage you.”

“We know!”

“And teaming up with me could hurt your chances.”

“We know that too!”

Wow, Ju-hong’s really bold.

Is she fully healed from her emotional wounds or what?

“Well, if you’re all okay with it… I’ll ask PD-nim if seven members are allowed.”

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah, let’s do it!”

“Bring it on!”

…Why do I feel like a mother bird with chicks?

I ended up going to PD Oh.

“Um.”

“Oh, asking if seven members is okay?”

“Yes…”

He must’ve seen everything.

“It’s fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I told you to figure it out yourselves. We won’t interfere.”

“Oh…”

“But you need to check with the other side too. Make sure they’re set and okay with having just four. They might want to poach someone.”

“True. They might.”

“So just wait for a bit.”

PD Oh looked tired of the drama as he called the other four over to talk.

The remaining four:

Kim Ryeo-yu, Shin Yoo-hyun, Bang Soo-in, Park Ha-eun.

Aside from Ryeo-yu, the rest are bottom-rankers.

Ryeo-yu looked extremely unhappy, probably because she noticed this.

She must be shocked that so many people flocked to my side.

Especially after she took first place.

Even I’m surprised. She must be even more so.

Guess that shows how little charm she has…

Ryeo-yu stopped mid-conversation with PD Oh and came over to us.

“Kyung-ah unnie.”

“Huh?”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Uh… me? Why?”

“Just for a bit.”

Kyung-ah’s eyes wavered wildly, but she couldn’t refuse on camera, so she followed Ryeo-yu.

I would’ve gone too, honestly.

“She’s trying to recruit Kyung-ah.”

“Makes sense—they need a main vocal…”

“Wonder how this will play out?”

All the trainees watched the two of them walk away with great interest.

What choice will Kyung-ah make?

A little later, Kyung-ah came back to us.

She pressed her hands together and apologized.

“Cheong-ah, I’m sorry.”

“You decided to join them?”

“…Yeah. They offered me main vocal and center. And… it’s the last stage. Ryeo-yu really compromised a lot. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head.

If she’d refused that kind of offer, I would’ve felt worse.

“No, unnie. That’s a great deal for you. I hope you show your best on the final stage.”

“Thanks for understanding. I really feel guilty toward you.”

“Don’t. It’s a competition. This is normal.”

Kyung-ah apologized a few more times before moving over to their team.

“Alright, I’ll take that as final.”

PD Oh, looking half-asleep, wrote big letters on the whiteboard.

Team Desperate Measures: Seo Baek-young, Yoon Cheong, Kim Geum, Ryu Bora, Lee Joo-seon, Yeon Ju-hong
Team Winners: Lee Kyung-ah, Kim Ryeo-yu, Bang Soo-in, Shin Yoo-hyun, Park Ha-eun

“Team Desperate Measures” was named by Kim Geum.

…Apparently because we were all people in desperate situations.

“Now that the teams are set, let’s start individual interviews. We’ll call you one by one.”

Oh.

It’s backstabbing time.