NOVEL WEB Chapter 6
Episode 6
Gyeoul, squatting in a lodging street where motels and hotels mixed, proudly showed off an even more disheveled appearance than yesterday, with her smudged eyeliner still intact.
If she stepped into the audition hall looking like that, she’d be kicked out for lack of preparation right away.
“Why do you look like that? Go wash up at the accommodation you booked.”
“…Well, minors need a parent’s consent form to stay, and I think I left mine in my wallet.”
“Then you should have gone to a jjimjilbang to wash up! You can’t go to an audition looking like that!”
“So, I went to the jjimjilbang, but they saw my school uniform and kicked me out, saying students can only use it from midnight to 5 AM…”
“Then take off the uniform…”
Gyeoul was so speechless that all she could do was sniffle and cry.
“So you mean you’ve been homeless out here?”
With a heavily deflated look, Gyeoul nodded.
Come on, they say South Korea is safe, but what kind of trouble could happen with a girl camping out at a motel?
That was quite an audacious and careless decision.
I didn’t wish for Gyeoul’s audition to flop; I just didn’t want her life to go down the drain.
“For now, go to a sauna or a bathhouse and wash up. You need to go to the audition, right?”
“…The audition was this morning, and I’ve already been to the venue. They said it was yesterday, not today.”
Wow…
So that’s why she couldn’t debut.
“I swear Yeji said it was today…”
“Didn’t you mishear her?”
“No, she even came to send me off. I didn’t make it, but she cheered me on, saying she hopes you succeed…”
According to Gyeoul, she just learned dancing and singing by following a girl named Yeji and had no intention of auditioning.
She thought she didn’t have the talent to be an idol.
One day, Yeji invited her to audition together, and just having fun with Yeji made her want to try.
With Gyeoul being a total tech newbie, Yeji helped her fill out the application and connect online, successfully completing the online audition, but it turned out only Gyeoul passed the first round.
Gyeoul feared she would drift apart from Yeji.
She even wished she could have failed and let Yeji succeed instead.
However, Yeji encouraged her to try for the second round, promising to help her with procedures and schedules.
With Yeji’s support, she practiced her dancing and singing, and today she came to Seoul to audition on the date Yeji said, but this was the outcome.
I came up to Seoul today to audition, but this is how it turned out.
This situation didn’t seem like a simple mistake.
It’s not that I’m suspicious for no reason; in Gyeoul’s long-winded story, there were awkward parts about Yeji being referred to as a friend.
Even though Gyeoul tried their best to put a good spin on it, there was an underlying gloominess sticking out like a sore thumb.
Yeji probably never thought of Gyeoul as a friend in the first place.
Or if they were friends, maybe Gyeoul was seen as someone of a lower tier.
In the midst of that, Gyeoul’s jealousy of Yeji’s success might have become the motivation for deceiving Gyeoul.
Gyeoul, being the person involved, must have felt this even more deeply.
Still, they probably made excuses to themselves, thinking, “But they’re my friend.”
“…Don’t hang out with that Yeji anymore.”
Gyeoul couldn’t respond and just let tears fall.
Not only did Gyeoul lose their audition chance, but they also lost their only friend, looking sadder than anyone in the world.
Right now, I felt like my plan to introduce them to Cheon Jong-hoon would effectively work.
“You said the agency you wanted to audition for was CH, right?”
Gyeoul looked up at me with puffy eyes and nodded.
“What about joining SS?”
“…SS?”
“Yeah, the famous SS that’s one of the big three agencies. The facilities, vision, and support are better than CH.”
“Joining SS would be great… but would SS actually accept me? I’ve heard the competition is fierce, and it’s also the agency where debut chances are the lowest. There must be amazing people there, way better than someone like me.”
I encouraged her.
“You can be even more amazing than those incredible people.”
“…I’m really grateful for that. But what makes you say such a thing? My clumsiness makes me lose my wallet and I was confused about the audition date. What are you seeing in me?”
What am I seeing? I’m looking at the status window.
Of course, there’s no way I could say that out loud.
If I did, I’d be lucky to not end up in a mental hospital.
So, I had to be bold.
“You have talent.”
“How do you know I have that talent?”
“Instinct.”
“…Instinct?”
“Yeah, instinct. I’m not joking. My instinct has never been wrong. I could bet my entire remaining life on you becoming a successful top idol.”
“It could be.”
Of course, this was under the assumption that there’s no divine intervention and that we’re receiving reasonable training from an agency.
Well, I didn’t really intend to add a disclaimer like that.
What I needed to say was simple.
“Trust me. I’ll make you the best idol.”
Gyeoul stared at my confident face, her expression blank.
Then, with a dazed look, as if she were drunk, she said.
“…I believe you.”
Those eyes, filled with blind faith, seemed like she had some sort of religion going on.
Was the drug too strong…?
I shrugged it off, thinking that good vibes are good vibes.
Anyway, since I had Gyeoul’s permission, it felt okay to try dealing with Cheon Jong-hoon.
Without hesitation, I decided to call Cheon Jong-hoon.
Since we were acquaintances before my regression, I remembered his phone number.
Not one of those four different work numbers, but a personal number that only a handful of people knew.
If an unknown number popped up, he wouldn’t ignore it.
As expected, after about 30 seconds of ringing, the call connected.
“…Who is this?”
“Is this Team Leader Cheon Jong-hoon? I heard you’re struggling to recruit the last member for the girl group project. Would you consider getting a trainee introduced to you?”
Before he could dismiss it as a prank and hang up, I quickly spewed out the information.
“Overall, she has a cold yet not cheap-looking appearance. Envisioning luxurious black would be ideal. As for the song that suits her, it should have a tension and synesthesia vibe, rather than something pure and lovely. Of course, a powerful and challenging performance should also be included.”
He couldn’t possibly disregard that.
After all, I just repeated what he wrote in his autobiography about the title song ‘Queen in the Mirrorland’ that he’s creating for the idol group Alcest.
“….”
Silence followed, perhaps because Cheon Jong-hoon was deep in thought.
That makes sense.
If a stranger suddenly calls and speaks as if they can see into his mind, suspicion is bound to arise.
However, even if my credibility was an obstacle in this situation, he would take the bait.
If he hears that there’s a perfect match for his thoughts in this daunting moment, a producer wouldn’t be able to turn it down.
“If a matching property exists, as a producer, I can’t just ignore it.”
“…It’s an excessively convenient story. It feels almost as if someone has peered into my head and is speaking. But hearing that from someone I don’t know is unpleasant. Very unpleasant.”
Cheon Jong-hoon spoke like an agitated beast.
“…However, I can’t just cut off my interest.”
His bubbling displeasure and overpowering curiosity came through the phone.
“I’ll ask. How did you get this number?”
Cheon Jong-hoon seemed eager to unveil who spread his number.
The answer was already prepared.
“I was managing Seonghwan’s affairs. Since he didn’t have an agency, it wasn’t a formal contract, so I was more like an allowance-receiving grandson.”
The late Seonghwan, a revered figure in the music industry and recently deceased trot singer, was a good excuse.
You can’t question a dead person about why they gave out a number, right?
In addition, mentioning the contract beforehand eliminated any potential repercussions.
“Seonghwan, you say? Huh… yeah, that makes sense.”
He seemed to find the name Seonghwan plausible.
“Then how did you know that I was struggling to recruit the last member? The guys involved in this project aren’t lightweights in terms of discretion.”
“Didn’t the old man have a visit from SS on his AllTube channel while he was alive? I tagged along and checked the trainees overall. And I was convinced. Only 4 members would catch Team Leader Cheon’s eye.”
Since Cheon Jong-hoon wasn’t involved in the YouTube filming, it was an effective excuse.
“And the fact that the new girl group project for SS is set for 5 members is an open secret, so I just connected the dots. I figured you’d have trouble choosing the last one.”
“…If I wanted to, I’d want to hang up right now, so don’t mess with me. You narrowed it to 4 based on a quick glance during that brief filming? Do you think that’s a reasonable excuse?”
I, too, thought it was absolute nonsense.
If that were possible, why have auditions or tests at all?
“Aren’t the selected trainees Lily, Coco, Amy, and Yoon Jeong?”
But I know.
“…”
One couldn’t simply take the words of someone who witnessed Alcest’s rise and fall as mere nonsense.
If you’re so upset, why not just reincarnate?