Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The moment we entered the van, we all sat in absolute silence.

You might get me wrong… It’s not the ‘oh-we-have-nothing-to-talk-about’ silence. It’s the deadly one. It’s the awkward one. It’s the one that keeps your brain in an autonomous whiplash by every bump of the car on the road.

“So,” Miyako inhaled, “You guys wanted to go to the one in Minato?” she said, stopping at a red light while looking back at us briefly.

“Um. Yes, the one in Minato.” Memcho coughed up the courage to speak.

“The studio, right?” she chuckled, “I thought so. Who told you that?”

“During the time we were about to post the music video, Ruby mentioned it.” Kana said in a low voice, “I hope it isn’t too much to ask…?”

“Ah. Is that so?” she continued driving, “Don’t worry. We haven’t used that thing in a while, As long as you three agree, I have nothing against it. I’m assuming you all talked about the competition before making the decision of joining, right?”

Well, isn’t this deja vu… round two.

The air inside the van grew heavier with silence, broken only by forced smiles and nods. I almost felt guilty for dragging them into this. 

Almost.

But I did give them a choice to back out after my so-called ‘mistake’.

They chose to stay. That was their decision, not mine.

Maybe it’s selfish to think this way, but facts are facts. I wasn’t some… I dunno… tyrant forcing them into this. I put the idea out there and signed us up, sure, but they had the option to walk away. And since they clearly didn’t want to…

That’s not my problem if—

“Of course, ma’am,” Kana answered.

My head turned almost immediately, looking at her with wide eyes with a face spelling out pure confusion. 

The contact towards her face was so prolonged it might be actually considered a staring competition — only that my opponent wasn’t looking at me at all.

I quickly turned my head to the front. “—Ah actually! Y-you know. What song is playing on the radio? It seems a little familiar… I-I like the song. Cool. C-cool.” 

Miyako breaked again at another red light, “Hm? You didn’t know? It stayed on the top spot in Oricon for around three weeks. I can’t believe they’re bringing back idol music like this…” she clicked her mouth, before giving in defeat, “But what do I know? Maybe this is what youngsters are into these days.”

“How cool…” I nodded at the sound, only focusing on it.

What a familiar tune. 

“How was the Youtube video you all posted last night? Morning? I can’t believe you did that — but you know…” Miyako sighed while stealing a glance at me, then immediately adjusting the knob of the radio, “Even I couldn’t say whose idea it is between you three… Anyways. Is it doing okay? Doing well?”

Memcho inhaled air through her teeth, looking around at the fogged window uselessly while fidgeting with her thumbs on top of her lap before staring at the rear view mirror.

“I uh… Maybe a little too well, actually…”

Oh, give me a break…

I presumably ran around in circles, holding my laptop dangerously open on one hand as I traveled the spiral steps leading to my bedroom on the top floor above the kitchen. It was getting late. Might as well watch… whatever Ruby potentially cooked up trouble for me.

She’s like an unskippable cutscene in a video game. I’d think everything is going well for me until there’s a side quest waiting to tip over the progress I’d made. Honestly, I’d be perfectly fine with it except for the fact that life doesn't have a save load file.

Well, if only you can repeat your entire mistakes over and over again until it’s perfect. That doesn't sound too bad of a prospect, actually.

Before I do that…

I told myself, “Wouldn’t it be good to check some other forums for a change? Surely people don’t all think the same in different social media environments, right?”

Then I thought of opening *2ch.

And then I forced myself not to. My hand instinctively pulled away my other arm from typing the website domain. The last I wanted to see is a bunch of more incels disliking the show. I don’t even think it’s necessary to even go there, because I can sense — no, feel the type of posts generated from that website a mile away. It’s either gonna be someone jacking off or someone creating a whole new slur against Koreans. Not a fun environment.

Well… it’s not like I didn’t get slurred on Twitter for being Japanese. But it’s not like I care enough to be offended about it.

Casualties on both sides… I think this is what they meant when they say ‘equality’

I was reminded that my fancam for the performance was third behind Moondae and Ahyeon.

310k.

Name: Aquamarine Hoshino (Gorou Amemiya)

Vocal: B+

Dance: C+

Looks: SS+ 

Talent: B 

Attribute: Infinite Potential (active)

One Look is Enough (passive)

I’m a Well-Kept Secret (passive, active)

“One point to Talent.” I mumbled quietly after some short thinking.

I can already hear your thoughts all the way from here.

“What? Are you stupid? Shouldn't you put your points into something practical like vocals or dance? Things idols use most of the time?”

I disagree, respectfully.

The reason why idols become idols is because of star quality. You can sing and dance well, sure. But are you entertaining enough to watch? Do people like you immediately? I think that's already a separate skill itself greater or equal to both of those talents. Singing is cute. Charm is pleasing to the eyes. But charisma is absolutely, no exception, necessary. 

It’s a reason why not just anybody can be a celebrity.

I could put my points to vocals later. Just for these circumstances I’m currently in, it’s last in priority.

Even if I didn’t have an incredibly exceptional voice… It’s not impossible to succeed.

Because let's face it: Not all people who were picked for the final lineup are all talented. Sure, the winners of the survival show have a higher possibility of being talented, but it’s not completely uncommon for people to slither and sneak themselves through that fine line.

In actuality, if you hate the lineup, blame the audience. Not the participants.

[ Successfully added one point to Talent! ]

Name: Aquamarine Hoshino (Gorou Amemiya)

Vocal: B+

Dance: C+

Looks: SS+ 

Talent: B+

Attribute: Infinite Potential (active)

One Look is Enough (passive)

I’m a Well-Kept Secret (passive, active)

I stared at the system blankly before willing it to close right in front of me, melting into oblivion.

And also… I wanted to distract the audience from the potential backlash due to the out of context editing if ever they do comment about it. I’m still not sure what responses would be yet.

Yet. 

That’s enough stalling for now.

I clicked the video to resume playing the reaction video, glancing ever so mindlessly at the pinned comment. 

Before my eyes became even wider.

Ruby... had her own Youtube channel?

[Video opens with chaotic previews: clips of Ruby laughing hysterically, Memcho wheezing, and Kana shaking her head in disbelief.]

[Hard cut to static. The screen flickers as Memcho’s title card appears dramatically, serving as an intro.]

[R: (whispering, camera way too close to her face) The time is 11:00 PM. Don’t be deceived. We are, in fact, recording at this ungodly hour. Report—]

[M: Oi! Shut up—!]

[Another perfect cut-off,, then a new scene: all three are sitting on the couch.]

[R: Hello, everyone! This is Hoshino Ruby!]

[Captions of username handles show on screen]

[Tiktok: @rubystansall]

[Twitter: @RubyHoshinoJP]

[M: I’m MEM-CHO!]

[Instagram: @memmem_cho_o]

[Youtube: @MEM-cho]

[Twitter: @MEMCHOJP]

[Tiktok: @memcho-official]

[K: Arima Kana.]

[Instagram: @aarimakana_]

[Twitter: @ArimaKanaJP]

[K: And this is B-Komachi!]
[R: And this is B-Komachi!]
[M: And this is B-Komachi!]

[Awkward silence.]

[M: Um…]

[R: Hm?]

[R: (laughs) Something you wanna say?]

[M: (chuckles) I just realized… this is way off from my usual upload schedule.]

[R: Oh?]

[M: (buries face in hands) No, no. My subscribers probably think I died. The moment they saw this notification, they were like: “Twice in one week? Wait, where do I send the flowers?”]

[K: Yes… We should’ve posted this on the B-Komachi channel.]

[R: No, our manager would kill us.]

[All three burst into laughter.]

[R: But today’s special.]

[K: Yes…]
[M: Yes…]

[R: No! No! You don't get it! You don’t understand. I have been bombarded . Twitter DMs. TikTok comments. Random messages.]

[Edited animation of Twitter DMs popping up, each one appearing as Ruby narrates.]

[R: It’s all—]

[“Ruby-chan, have you seen your brother on this show?”]

[“I sent you pirated links. Watch it. Now.”]

[“I need to see your reaction.”]

[“Do it for science.”]

[Cut back to Ruby sighing dramatically.]

[R: And I’m just sitting here like—]

[“I see my brother enough at home, now you want me to see him on TV too??? Seriously?”]

[Dramatic sound effect plays as the text shakes on screen as on-screen text appears.]

[Seriously, do you want me to suffer?]

[ Seriously? ]

[More sound effects play. She looks at the screen in disbelief as captions appear dramatically.]

[Also, what pirate? The episodes are literally free, (laughs)  ]

[Whatever, whatever. I’m doing it anyway. For you.]

[M: (laughs) Yes…]

[K: Yes…]

[R: This is literally my job, guys. Of course I have to do it. Of course!]

[K: (nods sarcastically, raising her eyebrows) Oh really? ]

[M: “Job”. Sure. Okay. Your words.]

[R: For your information, we’re disbanding next week and it will literally be your fault, Mem. Trust my words.]

[M: Hm? No, no, no, no! You got it all wrong…]

[R: Ha?]

[M: Why would that happen? (she looks ominously at Ruby). ]

[We don’t even trust you to begin with.]

[Kana covers her hand over her mouth, hiding her chuckle.]

[R: …Ah, nevermind. I think we should start now…]

Hi, yes this is Lee Yelim speaking.

I don’t like to be overdramatic here, so please don’t assume anything more, but I do think that watching that performance altered my brain chemistry more than it should have been. 

And shit, has that probably been a bad thing for me.

You know the butterfly effect? This is an astronomical major event in my development as a 232 month old baby. It’s like — if you plot my entire life on a timeline, this day would be shown on my hypothetical *Namu wiki page with animated red circles. The problem is that it will snowball into something. Like what if me stanning him would lead up to the events of me being elected as the new Prime Minister?

And oh, as like any other sleep-deprived art student, I took over the very important task of opening Twitter.

I stared all over the various other fandoms and works I’ve published fanart over the years, and as I looked over my profile picture of a different work I was formerly obsessed with, I smirked.

Time for the era of change, they say.

However, the fun part was making a fan account. 

But! Don’t worry everyone. Lee Yelim is here for the rescue.

Surprisingly, it gained a lot of followers within the first or second day of me promoting myself as an Aqua fan account and introducing new people to forcingly vote for him and the how-to’s to people new to the survival show scene. I have to admit, there are alot of new people here… I wonder how they marketed that many ordinary folks.

Anyways, I decided it was a good time to inflict my new hobby onto everyone else.

To be exact, my YouTube channel.

Some may call me a fraud, but I wholly disagree. The premise of my channel is art videos, so I don’t need to scream left and right for me to establish myself. People know me as the girl who puts calm music over the sighing brush strokes of a beautiful flower portrait and the soft-spoken commentator.

If you know me personally… well.

You get what I mean.

Don’t get me wrong though, I have talked and drawn about my interests here and there while painting during my mini-live streams if I did have the time (which is once every blue moon), so it isn’t entirely out of topic. I just wanted to do a little promotion of my little new interest I had picked up.

Anyways, enough of that.

The episode was starting, and I could feel the bones of mine shake in glee as the advertisement ended. Damn ads.

I mumbled a little against my laptop as I sipped down my drink at a cafe. I’ll say this loud and clear, we don’t have much time as art students (realistically zero), but those little breaks that we’d get from time to time were to be cherished. Some visit their parents, some actually do more art for some reason, some actually sleep…

And if you ask me… Oh how I use that time. Oh . Very productive, Yelim. 

Very productive.

He wasn’t showing up, so I said, ‘fuck it’ and tried to skip through the video. Then I realised it was a live broadcast and I couldn’t do that, so in my dismay I clicked my hands over the tabletop, forcing myself not to embarrass myself in public.

My eyes widened as a familiar blonde-looking guy showed up right in the corner. My reflexes are truly quick in these times.

What the hell is this guy doing?

He just… walked through the entire thing? He wasn’t in a hurry like everybody else, so I’m really concerned. The shot showed multiple scenes of him opening doors to rooms which have already been (awfully) raided.

No, did I stan someone stupid?

Before I could raise my eyebrows, a conveniently placed flashback was placed by the editors and showed Aqua, in all his glory (as he should) — stranded upon the starting point of all the participants. Instead of walking towards the entrance, or even the back door like Moondae did, he waited for everyone to go away before making a move.

After that, he went directly towards the huge stage of the MC, which was empty.

Huh.

Interesting.

There were no rules regarding the boundaries of the search, so he’s not breaking a rule by doing that. Plus, the hosts had left in a hurry — wasn’t that suspicious in itself? It was practically implied that something was hidden there.

He found one ball. Silver.

Ya!

God, this guy is really cool. Of course I would stan the right person. Do I look stupid to you?

He waited for everyone to leave… 

Honestly I haven’t thought about it lol

Cheating the system…?

Hey, we found him…

I can understand, he is looking for the ball, not the amount of it. 

It returns us back to the present time, where he carefully looked towards a bookshelf. Staring stupidly for a while, he shook the book away as Aqua found a gold ball.

[AH: Ah, there’s one in here.]

In a moment — in one flash of a blimp — someone bumped into him, their items in their hand fucking greedily full like a fat man, as it fell over like pathethic dominos. He looked back because he dropped something, then Aqua picked it up and gave it back to him in a bow. 

I nodded happily in approval as I kicked my legs.

However, I stopped myself from appreciating it as my teeth clenched onto the idea that if that guy didn’t drop any gold balls, he would have completely ignored Aqua altogether. 

This guy is too polite for someone who bumped into him so rudely lol

He didn’t steal the ball? My greedy ass would have gotten that, seeing the shitload of how much that guy has.

He’s too nice TT

If I was Aqua-ssi, I would have gotten mad.

My, my, he even bowed to something that is not his fault??

He didn’t bump other people, he didn’t force others to give them up, he didn’t team up with anyone, and most importantly, he respected the property of others? Even if that guy was totally a rude ass?!

I hypothetically went on my knees. Can men please watch this video? Preferably now?

I sped through the arcs of Moondae and other participants thereafter. I was still enamoured by it earlier. I thought to myself, with my hands over my chin, ‘What a studious person’ . I had always told my friends that I was the green flag detector after all — all the men I picked for them are personally vetted like a stamp of approval. Analyzed, MBTI’ed them like crazy, and checking their Instagram for days on days to check up on their history. 

Well, you get it. 

It came to the scene opening the items, and I held a shriek of nervousness as I saw the uncertainty in his face.

In almost no time at all, he sprinted. 

He wasn’t the only one, though. Chaos erupted as people were bargaining for other items and others were even sneakily trying to steal when others weren’t looking (or when they thought the camera wasn't looking), and some even accepted their fate.

Without even noticing, something similar to a blink of an eye passed when he talked to another guy at a rapid-paced speed. They talked so fast that seemingly the editor has left what they actually said as a thought exercise to the viewer. 

With five goddamn seconds remaining, they exchanged their items. 

I felt like I was watching an action movie with that kind of suspense.

Wait… isn’t this where Aqua does the cooking show? I’ve heard of it on Twitter, but I don’t think…

Fuck, I remember now. I completely missed it. I was too busy.

Whatever. Besides, I don’t think it’ll be that interesting considering it’s an PR ad — no matter how much I like the guy, it’s still corporate slop at the end of the day. 

However, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Because I have no idea why people are hyping up promotional material… Are you guys really that bored to watch such obvious marketing?

I said as I opened a new tab in my laptop and searched for the live.

Well yes. Yes I am.

[R: Ahhh…]

[M: It’s a little…]

[K: Hmmmm.]

[R: Who is this guy?]

[Captions: … ]

(There was a second of silence before Kana and Mem started laughing, Kana trying her best again to hide it.) 

[M: No — (laughs) it’s like…]

[Who the hell are you?]

[SFX plays]

[K: (a bell ring sfx plays as what she says next is overlayed on a black and white filter) This is the same guy that goes home immediately after school, by the way…]

(Ruby chuckles in the corner)

[R: No, it's really weird. It really is…]

[K: Weird…?]

[R: I-I no—! That’s not what I meant. Survival shows really…]

[M: (softly) Do things to people?]

(The screen cuts back to Aqua’s smile. The lighting is just a little too bright. The way he bows lingers on screen for a second too long.)

[“Ah, I see! You’re from where again?”]

[AH: (laughs lightly) I’m Japanese. Tokyo, specifically— to everyone there, I say my hellos.]

[K: …Do you recognize him?]

[R: (blinking rapidly) What…?]

[M: Aqua-tan?]

[R: (hesitates) …Yeah.]

(Kana and Memcho give her a look. Ruby laughs a little too suddenly.)

[R: Obviously! I-I mean—who else would it be?]

(The screen cuts back to Aqua. His voice is calm. Smooth.)

[Aqua: “Thank you, but it isn’t as beautiful as you, ma’am.”]

[M: (softly) …That was smooth.]

[K: (even softer) A little too smooth.]

(The screen lingers on Aqua’s too-perfect expression. The polite tilt of his head. The slight upturn of his lips. The way his gaze doesn’t quite reach his eyes.)

[R: …Excuse me?]

The screen shows the scene of Aqua singing.

[K: —Ah. Okay!]

[I did notice though. His singing is very cool though~]

[R: No, no, yeah!]

[Honestly, was he this good at singing?]

[M: You would be the judge of that, lol.]

[R: Wwww, you’re leaving the responsibility to me.]

[M: Honestly, isn’t he a little cool?]

(Kana nods approvingly)

[R: As his sister, I am forbidden from agreeing.]

(Overlay text: Sister in deep denial ^)

(Kana and Memcho laughs)

[R: No, listen, listen! I can say ‘he’s good at singing,’ ‘oh he’s amazing at this,’ ‘my brother is a total natural’ in a… objective manner?! but I physically cannot say ‘my brother is cool.’]

[M: (laughs) Why?]

[R: Because I said so. I feel like I’m committing a felony.]

(Kana dramatically nods.)

[K: That makes sense. Unspoken yet sacred rules.]

[M: So strong. So admirable.]

[R: I suffer in silence. All the time.]

[K: We’re sorry for unwrapping your… uh. Sad backstory.]

[R: Don’t worry, everyone is forgiven.]

[K: Well I hope so.]

[R: Of course.]

[Although, when Aqua comes back home I’ll snitch on all of you for not defending him.]

[K: (twitching eyebrows) Oi…]

The screen shows the scene of Aqua dancing next.

[K: …Oh.]

[M: Ohhh.]

[R: … HHHHHH??]

(Ruby physically jerks forward, pointing aggressively at the screen.)

[R: Uh.]

[Ok.]

[K:. …]

[M: ….]

(A few seconds have passed. They both howl in laughter once again.}

[M: THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?]

[K: Viewers, this is the reaction you’ve been waiting for.]

[M: Sorry— (laughs) , I can’t stop thinking about the fact that… THAT’S ALL YOU HAD TO SAY??]

[K: (mocking) “Uh. Ok.”. Is that it?]

(Ruby is still staring at the screen, her hands clasped together like she’s in deep contemplation.)

[R: …I mean, what else am I supposed to say?]

[M: What else—?! I dunno, maybe react like a normal person??]

[K: (laughing) We just watched you break down his entire introduction not even two minutes ago, and now he’s dancing again and all you have is “ Uh . Ok.”]

[M: Be so honest. Did it fry your brain? Are you buffering?]

(Ruby slowly turns to them, deadpan.)

[R: No. I just… I need a second.]

(Kana leans back , barely holding in her laughter.)

[K: No, she’s really going through it right now.]

[M: What’s wrong? Does it hurt?]

(Ruby exhales dramatically.)

[R: It’s just—] 

(She gestures vaguely at the screen) 

[—when did start dancing like this?!]

[M: Why are you always asking us? ]

[R: I know — but I’ve neve—]

[R: Okay yes !! But I wasn’t expecting—!!]

[K: (laughing) What, you weren’t expecting him to be good at it??]

[R: Wait, your girl needs a moment.]

[K: No, no, you need to face reality.]

[M: It’s okay to give up. You did your best the past 3 months being an idol.]

[R: Wait! Wait! I taught him that—!]

(Kana and Memcho turn to her, eyebrows raised.)

[K: You what? ]

[R: We picked the song together. He was asking me what song he should do so I said, ‘Hey why don’t we try this one then?]

[I taught him that! I literally—]

[M: (laughs) No way, really?]

[R: Yes?! You were there with me when I did so! Look — Look!]

(Ruby immediately jumps up from the camera, moving to the open space in front of the camera. She strikes the same starting pose Aqua does.)

[R: This part, okay — see how he moves his arms here?] 

[That’s good. That’s solid. But—!!]

(She pauses precisely on Aqua’s next movement.)

[R: Here! He hesitates —!]

(Zoom-in on Aqua’s foot placement, adding red circles like a sports analysis.)

[R: There's too much weight on the back leg… He’s overthinking it…]

[K: …Ruby, are you coaching him through the screen?]

[M: No, no… Um. Let her cook.]

[K: And leave the house burning?]

[M: Let’s increase my Youtube watchtime, ok?]

[R: This—! This is how you do it properly!!] 

(The screen splits — Aqua’s version vs. Ruby’s correction. The edit add a dramatic “Which is better? Vote now!” poll.)

[K: …Are we just watching a live dance tutorial now?]

[M: Did you not know we scouted a dance coach as our member? Pathetic.. I didn’t know you were this uninformed. Embarrassing.]

(Kana and Memcho exchange glances before giving a slow, sarcastic clap.)

[R: Shut up . (panting slightly, as there was a faint sound of a chuckle as she catches her breath) ]

[I’m serious, though! I knew I was teaching him something, but seeing it like this—]

(Ruby turns back to the screen, eyes squinted.)

[R: Yes! I get it now.]

[M: Get what?]

[R: Nothing, I thought something was off then it was not. My bad.]

[M: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Dance Coach To Punish Bad Idols.]

[K: …Wait. That’s terrifying.]

[M: Reminder that someone would read that by the way…]

[That’s probably me, actually . Forget what I said earlier.]

[K: Don’t worry, it probably already exists in the one-hundred yen manga section.]

(Ruby continues to stare at the screen endlessly)

[R: Stupid!]

[K: (sighs) Which one? I have two beside me.]

[M: Hold on! Before we continue I do stupid stuff on my channel! Please subscribe! It’s free!]

(A shameless plug of socials were placed on screen. You can see the ‘Subscribe’ button below the Youtube title itself animate itself when she says those words.)

[K: …We can tell.]

Even before the thought crossed B-Komachi to make a dreaded reaction video like that, we already hitted the studio lights and half-baked temporary sets made by the producers. I remember thoroughly the first evaluation for the first team match clearly.

The MC grabbed the mic, opening their script cards, “I’ll be announcing the individual vote rankings for the 1st team match performances.”

For Traveler, it was Cha Eugene and Kim Jumin. I had expected this since they were pretty popular and had an abundant amount of screen time during the group watch.

Now…

The evaluation of Leti is what I was waiting for the most.

The MC said it in such awaited, unnecessary suspense that it triggered me slightly. I had almost thought they left the annoying cliffhanger retention to the final product editing itself — not the actual filming.

The MC yelled, “1st in A team is Seon Ahyeon, 1st in B team is Ryu Chungwoo.”

Ah.

So it was just as I thought.

I’d be lying if I said I expected something different, but sometimes fate can be just left to absolute obviousness. To the fair, Ahyeon did deserve that win, much like anyone else besides me.

“Congratulations,” I smiled and clapped, even if I was behind him.

The MC explained next that the winners will get ‘Absolute Advancement’ — meaning no matter what rankings they’ll receive today, they’ll still move forward to the next round. If you ask me, I do think the benefit is half-useless in the first place; it won’t be any use of the more well-known participants, considering we can already guarantee their advancement to the future matches.

I’m sure everyone was thinking that as well.

But really. What is a reality show without people not saying their unfiltered thoughts?

I embraced the group hug around Ahyeon as he covered his face in humility. 

“Again, congratulations,” I tapped on his shoulder after the hug ended.

He turned to me with a slight blush, “A-ah. I-it’s nothing. I didn’t think that I would win— I-I mean. I’m super thankful b-bu—”

“Please,” I crossed my arms, “Let’s not forget what we said.”

“S-sorry…” he mumbled, his head held down low.

I sighed, “I suppose that attitude doesn't go away in an instant.” 

Instead, I shuffled through the tight pockets of my pants before I was able to obtain a small plastic container. When it shook, it made a noise.

Ahyeon looked at it, blinking in confusion.

“It’s nothing much, really.” I chuckled, grabbing two trifles of gum, giving it between his hands in a closed handshake, “But it always cheered up my sister when she’s… being absurdly wrong. And stupid.”

Ahyeon opened his hands, greeting him with two small minty candy. 

“Usually, it won’t shut her up, but that’s not the point.” I breathed out, looking at him carefully, placing it between his mouth as he chewed it slowly, “Sometimes you just need something to ground you.”

“A-Ah. Thank you.” he said with a genuine beam of happiness in his face, and I was a little shocked that it surprisingly worked.

He turned away, walking away with his head tilted a little higher than usual.

However, there was something amidst — no — against this quota.

Earlier during the hug, there was someone who didn’t join. Normally, I’d shrug off the behavior as someone not comfortable with the idea of physical touch — but the drag of his eyes towards me was unsettling. 

Moondae.

There was something else much different other than the lack of system details. And it isn’t the freshly-new smell of bleached hair or the suspiciously huge spike in appearance according to the Korean beauty standard, 

Fortunately, I was not left to my thoughts about him as the real thing initiated a conversation just immediately after Ahyeon left.

“What did you give him?” he frowned, his eyebrows scrunched.

“Hm?” I turned around. Was this guy a teacher? I didn’t know he had a vendetta against gum, “Nothing. Just chewing gum.”

“And that…” he paused, “Made him more… confident?”

Don’t worry. I was pretty shocked by this fact as well.

“Somewhat,” I weakly laughed. I suppose I can admit it wasn’t really the gum itself — but the backstory I had thought of at the last minute. Or it was the fact that he got pretty comfortable with me considering I entered his dorm room confronting his insecurities. Probably the latter.

“Why? You want some?”

“I’m good…” he shook his head, “Do you just… give candy to anyone?”

Ah. He must have remembered the other stupid endeavor my sister pulled on my backpack and that rippable paper bag with that crumpled letter signatures. In fact, I was wholly shocked when it was immediately edited and mentioned by netizens which is also why—

About that…

Maybe later.

My eye glanced over the still nullified ability of not seeing his status — the ever so loving system sound beep that mocked me every time I tried to do so, before closing itself in a nonchalant manner that left me clueless.

I raised an eyebrow, “Suppose you don’t get into the ranks to advance into the next round. What do you do next?”

He paused for a moment. 

The air became even more bleaker even in the presence of the cool-shaded studio and talking chatters despite the innocent question. I thought he was ignoring me until he — somewhat — for the first time, made direct eye contact with me for more than five seconds.

“I don’t think that worries you,” he ended, “I’ll be… living my life, then. Nothing more.”

“Is that so?” I smirked, “Alright. I thought it would be something more interesting.”

Another beat of silence.

He looked at me from the side, like he was expecting for me to say something next, but I didn’t. I really shouldn’t, I repeated inside my head. Static ringed through my ears annoyingly, but I didn’t budge.

‘I don’t know what to expect anyone else to answer,” Moondae looked at me with confusion, "How about you?”

“Hm?” I smiled.

“How about you ?” he repeated, his voice lower, “What will you do if you don’t get in?”

“Ah…” I sighed, pretending to pause in uncertainty, “I’m tempted to not say anything, but that’ll look bad for me. Like a hypocritical response.”

Moondae continued to stare at me as I continued, “But if you insist... It’s nothing special. I’ll go back to Japan and continue my activities as an actor.”

Moondae's expression remained unreadable as he absorbed my disgustingly simple answer — like he wasted his breath trying to muster up the courage to ask it just to receive that response. It was the kind of look that neither accepted nor rejected what I had said, just a simple acknowledgment of my words without any interest in prolonging the conversation.

Still, there was something off about his reaction.

The way he had asked me that question, the way he had hesitated before answering mine… You may say that I’m an overthinker, but if you were to be able to weigh in and wear my shoes right on in this conversation, you would say the same.

I leaned against one of the chairs, waiting for the MC to announce the rankings as I crossed my arms. “You didn’t seem all that surprised.”

“Why would I be?” he shot back, not missing a beat.

I hummed, rolling a piece of gum between my fingers. “Ah. No reason! I just think that because most people here would be devastated at the thought of losing… It’s really good that you’ve made peace with yourself if you didn't win. More people should have that mentality.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t see you deny it either.”

“Would you be devastated if you lost?”

“Of course I would. It’s natural.”

“Then we are the same.”

Moondae didn’t budge, his gaze trailing off somewhere else in the studio. It wasn’t an avoidance move, no , it felt more like calculation. Like he was measuring how much he could say.

I tapped the gum container against my palm. “Hm. You also didn’t answer my first question properly.”

At that, he finally looked at me again. “Which one?”

“What would you do if you didn’t debut?”

For a brief second, I thought I saw something flicker across his face. Nothing extreme. No widened eyes or sharp intakes of breath. But there was a microsecond of something. A crack in the mask.

Then, just as quickly, it was gone.

“I don’t know what you mean. I said what I said.” he replied evenly.

I let out a short laugh. “Alright. I’m sorry if that somewhat offended you. I just get curious about the people around me.”

Moondae’s eyes sharpened just slightly. “Maybe you’re asking the wrong person to converse with. I don’t have… anything interesting or worthwhile to small talk with.”

I popped a piece of gum into my mouth. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing personal. I was just asking.”

“Okay…”

But alas, I had still let my tongue hover around questions, “What’s with the hair dye change? That’s quite a bold move, don’t you think?” 

Only, this was in actual curiosity this time. It was no secret that blonde hair was hard to pull off. If you can survive it — I do hope you’re comfortable with irreversible damaged hair for the rest of your career. 

Moondae opened his mouth for a second, but no words came out.

“You’re persistent,” he finally slipped out.

“Oh, I apologize again,” I chuckled slightly, “But I prefer the term ‘thorough’, though.”

“Then let me be thorough, too.” He said as he titled his head upwards slightly. “I have nothing to share. I didn’t expect anyone else to care that much.”

I chewed the gum slowly, the minty taste halting my thoughts. “Because people don’t usually don’t respond like that. Well, unless you’re not part of the usual people, of course.”

“Which do you think I am?”

Moondae’s expression didn’t change. I clicked my tongue, inhaling air through my teeth, “Oh? I haven’t decided yet. But everyone gets to be weird once in a while, and that’s okay. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Some people are noisy. Some people aren’t.”

“Hm.” Moondae replied with a dead tone, “Then I suppose you should keep guessing.”

I smiled at him before the MC called the different names of the contestants. I could feel the breath and every slither of camera and studio lights hovering over our whispers, so it was a mutual decision between us both that continuing this conversation was more than a little risky.

Alas, I placed my hands on my lap.

What an interesting individual…

Multiple names were called by the MC at that time. Coincidentally, Kwong Heesung won 31st place, then it continued descending from there. I didn’t pay much attention until the MC shouted the 13th place.

“Participant Lee Sejin!”

…Then proceed to get confused about the identical surnames and first names until the program decides to assign nicknames.

Finally, Keun Sejin (Lee Sejin B) dramatically whipped up his charismatic movements and aggressively handshook Bae Sejin with a grinning smile. I had almost had the temptation to roll my eyes in front of the camera.

Hm. The top contestants like Cha Eugene and Kim Raebin haven’t been called out yet. Probably because they were higher in the rankings.

“8th placer, Lee Sejin A!”

Oh? Interesting. Not even in the top five? I had thought people with previous popularity would have a humongous advantage — a child actor at that. I wonder how far it fell…

As I continued to listen…

As the contestants continue to stand up…

The numbers ticked by, and my name had yet to be called. The placements climbed higher, but my body felt colder. A creeping sensation ran down my spine, something unfamiliar, something I hadn’t accounted for.

Had I lost?

It wasn’t rational. I knew that. There was no reason for me to assume the worst just yet. And yet—

The longer it stretched, the more it pressed down on me, like an invisible weight threatening to crush me under its gravity.

“6th placer, Hoshino Aqua.”

Ah…?

My name, finally. The relief hit, but not before I realized — my hands were trembling.

Stop. Stop. You look pathetic. Stop trembling.

It’s just a ranking announcement.

A heartbeat pulsed through my body, irregular and wrong. I ignored it, brushing my hair to the side and hardening each and every step I took to the front. Each beat intensified as I was called to stand up to the podium and give out a speech. I softly yanked the microphone from the MC — and — after realizing what I did, I smiled, bowed, and offered my sincerest apologies if I was being rude.

What was I being scared for?

For what? Not knowing? I was used to knowing.

I opened my mouth softly, giving a bow.

Ah, whatever. Forget about it. Just get this over with.

“Thank you very much to everyone who has supported me. I’ll make sure to work harder for all of you!”

I can feel it in his bones.

Some people will say, ‘You’re lying. You’re merely saying in such a hunch.’

But I will not regress on these lines.

I may not be the brightest out of all the actors in Korea, but I am not an idiot.

From the moment that my agency forced me to be here, I know what the look of uncertainty is. I know when someone practically questions in front of the camera if it is even appropriate to be here. The only thing that can make fun of the kettle is the pot, after all.

I pursued my lips at the announcement of myself — Bae Sejin — acquiring 8th place out of everything. 

And I yelled inside, ‘No? Yes? It isn’t over?’

It repeated all over again, like a broken radio.

It wasn’t that that ticked me. The fact that people are clinging onto the idea of my previous presence as a shaman made the weight of 8th place useless. It was like I was receiving a plastic medal instead of a trophy. I said to myself that maybe it’s better if I just received participation stickers instead.

So the moment that I saw Aqua, standing up in front with a mic in his hand, someone best believe that I raised my eyebrows.

It wasn’t… I’m not sure.

I’m not sure if my hunch is right or if it was just nerves. After all, performing and just existing scenes of you breathing can be included in national TV in this horrid survival show — but I was sure it was something much more than that. The echoes of breathing, the flickering of thumbs across the mic and the subtle hurried expression in his face was more than enough for me.

Again, like I said — I don’t guarantee it. You can say that to multiple contestants, even me , that we were paranoid out of our minds. There are alot of conductive gestures that are common towards every single serious participant here.

But the fact that he was intentionally hiding his mannerisms did the complete opposite of what he was trying to achieve — it made him look unnatural.

‘Hm. How much more unnatural? Everyone here is unnatural. Lee Sejin B? Cha Eugene? Even in some ways, all and be all. What you are in real life does not coincide with how you are on screen.’

How? The type of unnaturally perfect.

I just find it more than watchful when a shiver runs down my spine every time Aqua shows up. It was as if something wasn't right. A sense of deja vu awakens inside of me around those types of people — and you know, most of them come from previous jobs in the entertainment industry.

You know. Actors.

And the worst part is I’m the one who probably only notices. The way he gets along… the way he talks to everyone… greets everyone… gave out free snacks around earlier episodes…

I’m not saying you can’t be nice. There's a high probability that he’s probably a kind person, and I’m just being paranoid.

But I’m saying that I’m cautious.

In fact, I do want to get to know him more. However, my gut instinct is yelling for me to halt that plan for a while.

Alas, I was cut short on my thoughts as Aqua sat beside me, putting his hands together in a cheerful chuckle.

Wasn’t he beside Moondae earlier?

“Well, I’m happy with my rank…” I didn’t notice who, but he looked at someone, “Congratulations to you as well!”

And that someone was…

He looked…?

He looked at me.

Oh. Oh okay. 

“I—” I looked to the side unconsciously, before realizing what I did, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he glared at me with another smirk, “I wonder who’ll be in the following ranks? A shame I didn’t make the cutoff to the top five, but I’m still grateful in every other way…”

“The popular ones.” I spoke before I could even process it, “Cha Eugene… Kim Raebin… Seon Ahyeon, Ryu Chungwoo, and the like.”

Damn. Sometimes I do need to know when to keep my mouth shut. Maybe staying silent for most of the reality show is a good idea, and I shouldn't stray off from that.

“Ah… I see.” 

“Yes…” I ended it awkwardly.

“Wow, they are really delaying the top five, huh? Suspense much…” he sighed before raising an eyebrow at me. I almost jumped at his expression, leaning away from him as he leaned closer, “I wonder why you aren’t there? I was told you were a popular child actor of the like. I mean, you got a high ranking, but I would have thought you would have gotten higher…”

The worst part was that he held a genuine face of curiosity in front of the camera that I swallowed my saliva without thinking.

My heart pumped in obvious awareness. Of course … this was being recorded. Of course. There is a camera right behind, side, and in front of us. Who knows if they’re gonna edit this—

I tried to pretend I didn’t understand him because of his accent or something similar, but I realized that it could be used against me as being discriminatory, so I made an attempt to smile. Not to mention that would be stupid considering I understood him the entire time before and that Japanese phonetics can be translated into Korean smoothly without any issues.

“It’s just that I need to work harder, that’s all. I think the audience is smart because they know that they should assess by talent, not by biased knowledge”

“You know, you’re very good at singing.”

“Youngrin gave me some… points for improvement.”

“Youngrin?” he blinked, “Oh, I’m interested. What did she say to you?”

Fuck. Bae Sejin, who are you? Please know when to stop talking to people — even to those that interests you.

“Nothing much… She was really helpful, but she can be scary sometimes. There are multiple compilations of her criticizing the other participants critically, but it’s good because she’s straight to the point.”

“Makes sense. She’s a producer, right?”

“Yes…”

The MC continued, “5th place, Moondae!’

Moondae bowed with a tinge of professionalism. He spoke in such language that made me believe that he might be a stockholder at a meeting. 

Undoubtedly, Aqua thought the same.

“Eh…” he mumbled, “He’s so… well spoken .”

First, I thought it was a compliment, but then I realized that if it was — it was a really bad one. Plausibly because he said it with a tinge of sardonic flair.

“You said you were close to him.” I pursed my lips, “Is that true?”

“Ah.” he paused, “You saw the livestream?”

I nodded. Who hasn’t? That livestream undoubtedly could probably fund a single episode already, so I’m starting to deflect this question on him — how popular is he back in Japan? So much so that there were multiple articles on Kakao estimating the amount donated?

“I don’t think they can hear us now, so don’t worry,” he whispered, eyeing a spot that the camera was in earlier, “Sorry. It was a little messy in that PR livestream, with — chats — and all. But don’t make assumptions though, I can’t consider myself well known back home—”

Liar.

My brain jolted. That thought just perfectly slotted inside of me subconsciously.

He continued, clicking his tongue, “It’s just that…”

“That?”

“Aha, that Japanese people can be a little crazy. I think I know that pretty well.” 

“I see.”

I suppose that's an honorable reason. People from outside of Korea support people from their own nationalities. Now, whether or not because there's an inherent bias or a victim mentality is a whole can of worms I’d be stupid enough to discuss without being an expert.

“Is it true? That you’re close with Moondae?”

“Ahyeon said the same, and he’s close with him, so why not?” 

For a split second, I could see his retinas glance over the cameras hovering us in a split second. If it weren’t for me noticing his expression, I would have noticed it a minute later.

“But alas, I call everyone my friends. I can support everyone's hard work too, you know!”

Each statement. Each word. I don’t know… I can’t describe in a simple paragraph what I feel about Aqua. It’s as if everytime a sound comes out from his mouth, I feel like I’m back at a poorly-lit set for TV.

I know that sounds stupid, considering we are on TV with what I can consider a shitty temporary set, but it’s as if he’s not talking as a person from a reality show, but rather a rehearsed script.

However it sounds so natural that I’m starting to think I’m hallucinating… After all, if Aqua was this… obviously “fake” from what my senses are telling, then all the contestants would be bad-mouthing him and I, the person who's lurking quietly between gossips, would hear it, right? 

No. Everyone likes him.

Are you jealous?

No. It’s not like that. It’s that everyone likes him so—

When the MC announced the fourth, third, and so on and so forth that I, and presumably the general population already knew who was going to be there, so I wasn’t listening anymore. I was taking peeks at his beautiful face and the way he exudes this… cheery aura that smells like perfume that tries so hard to imitate the smell of flowers.

Maybe I’m overthinking things… I shook my head. All I should be thinking about now is that I want to stick closer.

Why?

Oh, for a multitude of reasons, of course. 

But mostly because a selfish part of me yells, ‘I’m curious. I really am.’

IJoCo participant breaks record for amount donated in a single PR livestream.

Aquamarine Hoshino (stage name: Aqua) has officially set a new record for the highest amount donated during a single livestream by an Idol Inc. Season 3 (IJoCo) participant. His chaotic cooking live stream, which quickly spiraled into a mix of culinary disasters and deadpan humor, garnered an astonishing estimate of $20,000 USD in donations from viewers worldwide.

Idol Inc. is a high-stakes K-pop survival show where trainees compete for a spot in an upcoming idol group. The show is known for its intense training, dramatic eliminations, and the added twist of audience influence — fans can vote for their favorites through schedule voting. Various interactive events, including live streams, mission performances, and social media engagement are made by the show for the viewers to pick their favorite.

Aqua’s live stream, meant to be a simple cooking session, quickly turned into a comedy special as he confidently attempted to make traditional Japanese dishes — only to struggle spectacularly at every step. From nearly making Japanese users on Twitter slightly triggered at him to using sugar instead of salt, Aqua’s nonchalant attitude toward his failures had fans in stitches.

“Cooking is about confidence,” he said at one point, while adding an inexplicable amount of water in the rice cooker. “If you don’t hesitate, it still counts as cooking.”

Despite his culinary struggles, viewers found his dry commentary and persistent attempts endearing, leading to a record-breaking donation total by the end of the stream.

Fans quickly took to social media to react to Aqua’s performance, solidifying his reputation as an unpredictable yet lovable contestant.

@chaosfan99: “I thought Aqua was the cool, mysterious type, but watching him argue with his own spatula for 2 minutes has changed my entire perception.”

@idolinc_updates: “Aqua just raised 20k while failing to make rice properly. This man is unstoppable.”

@kimsoojinluv: “I was planning to vote for someone else but Aqua just forgot his own cuisine and ‘That’s flavor.’ He has my full support.”

@yuyuu129120: “This man went from brooding main character to comedy king in one stream. IJoCo wouldn’t be the same without him.”

Surprisingly, the website of the food delivery service he was promoting crashed immediately after the livestream, the web development team reiterating that they’re ‘Appreciating the support and getting back on it.’

As Idol Inc. Season 3 progresses, Aqua’s newfound variety show appeal might just give him an edge over the competition. Whether he makes it into the final lineup or not, one thing is certain — his cooking skills (or lack thereof) will be remembered for a long time.

(EN) LMAOOO not moonflop trying so hard to be aqua ☠️

(JP) Aqua has blonde hair, and now suddenly Moondae is blonde too? Hmm. 

(EN) Omg can everyone stfu. if Moondae drinks water, people are gonna say he’s copying Aqua. 💀

(KR) If anything, Aqua’s the one who looks like he’d be a fan of Moondae. Why are people acting like Aqua invented blonde hair?

(EN) Ngl i don't care both of them look hot asf. This is a win for me.

(JP) Blonde Moondae and blonde Aqua can both exist, you know. No one is out here fighting over brown-haired idols.

(EN) can fucking moondie get out of my screen he pmo badly 🥀🥀

(KR) If Moondae really wanted to copy Aqua, he’d need to start burning down kitchens first. 😭moondae superior

“Hey…”

A long batch of silence echoed through the entire living room, awfully contrasting with the sight of balloons and assorted colored stringed foil decorating the background. The absolute tense air was so infallible that, if I were breathing the oxygen present, I felt as if it would pierce little needles inside my lungs like fiberglass.

I stilled, “So…” looking at both of them cautiously, “What… do… you think?”

Kana spoke, “I—”

“I don’t know,” Ruby cutted Kana off, “It’s… more than weird.”

I had thought so… I said to myself as I crossed my arms. I didn’t know what to feel as well if someone I knew personally acted worldly-levels differently on TV — much less me reacting to them on camera. It makes me slightly a bit more grateful I was the only one in my family to pursue entertainment.

“I keep on remembering what shachou said about it, when he was in Love for Real. It’s just similar to acting — a character for the viewers to consume. It’s either people overall equip the traits their agency gives them or exaggerate their personalities—”

“But it’s not…” Ruby sighed, “It’s not an exaggeration. I don’t remember… him acting like this at all.”

“It’s not something new, I trust you.” Kana sighed, “But I don’t deny that… It's weird. Even if I didn’t want to look at him — well — not at this time, I feel like I’m looking at a different person entirely instead of Aqua. I don’t feel that connection.”

“Like what?”

“The fact that your stupid ass brother can feel emotions,” Kana clenched her fists, “How… that he’s a total fucking fake. A fake. A fucking fake .”

Ruby and I looked at each other in a split second. This was the announcement of Aqua’s survival show to us all over again.

Well. Safe to say we had no comment.

“It’s not that…” she paused and pursed her lips, before continuing, “How?! How? How can he act that way to people he doesn't know — doesn't know a single fact about his real personality, acting all… nice and stuff, then with us he doesn't even care what others feel?”

“—It’s a different principle when it comes to reality shows. Even the Yuki told us that having a personality on screen serves as a shield of criticism. I don’t think anyone rational would hesitate twice on the decision whether their real self or personified self would be attacked in an event of bashing.”

Ruby looked down, “Isn’t that… what happened to Akane-san?”

“Yes.” I intaked in the poisonous air, “Yes. That’s what happened. That was the consequences.”

Kana scoffed. "How is it any right that he can just… do that without anything happening? Does he think that anyone that knows him won’t point it out in any way? Aren’t we the adults in this situation? Shouldn’t we—"

“ Hey .”

Kana, if you want to talk like adults, then we’ll talk like adults.

I have no business between what happens within you and Aqua. That's not my responsibility.

But you want to throw blame at Aqua, I won’t sugarcoat things for you. His choices might seem bizarre, but that’s his own decision. And I don’t think it’s fair to mock someone for making the rational choice just because it doesn’t sit right with you. That’s ridiculous. That’s stupid.

But fine. If you really wanna stick to those morals, I want you to promise that if I open the TV and see you dance on Budokan… I don’t want to see you do the same thing.

“Okay. Okay .” I stilled, “You wanna talk like adults? Fine. Let’s talk like adults.”

So I asked her seriously, "Okay, Arima Kana. Let’s say you meet someone. It doesn't matter if you — I don’t know — knew them for more than a decade or you both are strangers that met each other's eyes two seconds ago. Would you rather someone show you their real personality, even if every part of them hates you — or would you rather they put on a fake smile, beam at you, and act like they don’t loathe every second they spend with you?"

“I—”

“ Oh, sorry, are you having a hard time now?”

“Stop.” Ruby exhaled with a loud pitched yell, “We didn’t argue like this when onii-chan was in Love for Real. I don’t think it’s productive to talk about this topic again—”

“Ruby, I’m talking to her—”

“Okay! Continue what you’re saying, then.” Kana shrilled.

“None, actually. None. In my more than decade of experience, it was not favourable whether it was the former or the latter. Nobody can choose between their manager treating them like shit honestly or someone who thinks they trust, but stabs them from behind.”

“So what? How does that justify… anything? ”

“We will talk like adults, remember? Majority rules your feelings. Facts don’t care about your feelings, Kana. Not in corporate slumps.”

Kana pursued her mouth, “I did take shitty jobs as well. But I didn’t… deceive anyone intentionally. Not anyone…”

“You think you don’t, but you do.” I blankly spitted out, “You don’t need any research or statistica, because our ancestors didn’t need conductive surveys knowing that people will hide their true personality even outside the showbiz industry. It’s human nature. Why do you think intrusive thoughts exist?”

I hate this conversation.

I hate hearing Kana talk like this, like she’s standing on some moral high ground, looking down on Aqua for doing what it takes to survive. Like she’s never faked a smile, never put on a mask. But she has . She’s an actor. A former child star, at that. She pretended everything was fine when her career stalled after middle school or so if I remembered. So why is this different?

I’ve worked too many shitty jobs to count — convenience stores, fast food, call centers. And you know what they all had in common? I had to smile. I had to be likable. Because nobody cares if you’re tired or pissed off. Because nobody gives a shit about your real personality. They just want you to keep working. And if you can’t? You’re replaceable.

My family wasn’t going to support itself. My brothers weren’t going to make it through university on good intentions alone.

Even as an influencer, I had to act happy when I wasn’t. Sure, I did enjoy my work so much more than any other minimum wage job I’d ever had. I love my job more than anything. But there are days where I had to smile even if I had nothing to do with anyone. Because if I didn’t, my paycheck was on the line. And I needed that paycheck.

I’m sorry that I needed to eat.

So when I finally got a shot at my dream, you know what I was told? I was too old . Too old to be an idol. Too old to matter. Too old for the industry to care. It didn’t matter how hard I worked — I had already missed my chance.

I’m grateful enough to get another chance in becoming an idol. I’m grateful to Aqua for letting me even have the opportunity to do so.

So hearing Kana act like Aqua’s some kind of fraud for playing the game? It pisses me off. 

She’s not mad because he’s fake. She’s mad because he’s fake with her . And that’s a personal feeling with Aqua himself. That’s not rational.

So maybe Kana is not wrong in this matter. Maybe he is fake. But maybe he’s playing a version of himself that’s easier for people to accept. But that’s not deception — that’s survival. It’s a survival show. And honestly? If you’re going to get mad at someone for that, you might as well get mad at every single Japanese person alive.

Because if she really believes Aqua’s in the wrong for this, then she better be ready to go on stage, open her mouth, and be completely real. No smiles she doesn’t mean. No lines she doesn’t believe in. No pretending.

But she won’t.

Because she knows that’s not how the world works.

Kana's expression twisted, her lips parting as if she had something to say. Something to fight back with, but no words came. Instead, she exhaled sharply, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"That’s not fair," she muttered, her voice shaking with frustration. "That’s not fair at all."

"I had thought you’d already known that when you decided on showbiz." I shot back. 

Her jaw tightened, and for the first time, I saw something flicker in her eyes — something raw.

"I know it’s not fair." she admitted, her voice almost too soft to hear. "Sorry. I’m… lying. I know it better than anyone. I know what it’s like to be treated like a product instead of a person. I know what it’s like to be expected to perform, no matter how I feel. I know…"

She trailed off, her breath unsteady. Then, with a bitter laugh, she ran a hand through her hair. "I know all of that. So why does it still bother me so much? Why does it feel so wrong when it’s Aqua doing it?"

I watched her, waiting.

"Maybe because…" she hesitated, as if admitting it would make it real. "Maybe because I wanted to believe that at least with me, someone was real. That no matter how much someone was cold to everyone else, they didn’t have to do that with me. That I… that I was someone who mattered enough to see who someone really is."

"And what if the version of him you knew before wasn’t all of him either?"

Kana’s breath hitched.

"Then…" She swallowed hard. "Then maybe I was just as blind as everyone else."

She laughed again, but this time, it sounded hollow. "God, I’m stupid."

Ruby finally opened her mouth, finally joining the conversation "Loli-senpai… You weren’t stupid. And you aren’t stupid now." 

She nodded slowly, her gaze falling to the floor. "Accepting it… Me, accepting it. The same way I accepted smiling for a camera when I wanted to cry. The same way I accepted playing a role just to stay relevant."

“I find… I find it a little hard to swallow as well, if I’m being honest. About onii-chan,” Ruby opened, her thumbs flicking each other, “—but. But. I had thought about it. Even if I didn’t want to think about it. That…”

Her face went empty.

For a split fraction of a section, I had seen no presence of a soul in her eyes.

I held my breath, like I was looking at someone uninvited at her own house.

“Are… are you alright? ”

Ruby reverted back with a saccharine smile, her fluffy demeanor assuring me of my thoughts. I was probably too stressed that I was making up things — I shouldn’t involve Ruby too much in whatever scenario my brain is making up, “ Oh! No, it was nothing!” she continued, “—I was saying that you should support everyone around you no matter what! Being an idol is doing whatever you want!”

“ Hmmmm… ” I hummed with raised eyebrows, but I had diverted my attention to Kana instead and turned my head towards her, "You would be correct. Why do you think it’s called a survival show? Seriously, what does that mean to you?”

Kana took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. "That… I’ll have to get over it. Thank you."

“Well, you learned a thing or two in the adult world. Congratulations.”

I knew she wasn’t over it. I knew she didn’t accept it yet. Her voice was steady now, but I could tell, it still hurt. It would take time — maybe a long time. It wasn’t out of the blue to assume that she just wanted to end this conversation.

But at least now, she understood. No, Not understood. She already did a long time around.

But instead hold her personal feelings aside when it comes to work. That’s professionalism 101.

And that was enough for now.

“So I propose a solution.” I took the camera. 

I had stopped recording it ever since the last seconds of the episode ended, but it wasn’t until now where I had gone to transfer the files into my laptop.

“I know I have said a lot of things.”

“We’re aware.” Kana sighed, placing her beret on the couch side mini-table. 

“Yeah.” I chuckled a little, “All I was trying to say was that I’d hate taking away someone's opportunity. Take it from someone as old as me… And I’ll admit it now, alright…?! But… seriously. If I did that, then I’d be insulting myself. That I’d take it away just because younger me didn’t have the privilege for doing so.”

Ruby blinked, tilting her head, “Hm? What solution are you talking about?”

“You… you don’t have to agree with me. But looking at it now, I want to respect Aqua’s wishes.”

“Respect… onii-chan’s wishes?”

“It’s just basic human respect.” I plugged the USB to my laptop as they all gathered around me, “But I just wanted to remove the clip of us being surprised because of Aqua-tan’s introduction.”

“Why?” Kana gawked, confused.

“Well, first, we’d be disrespecting his wishes, and next we'd be wasting his opportunity to win. I doubt he wanted to do that just because he wanted to. There’s a reason for everything.”

“I…” Ruby’s mouth held open, her eyes widening for a moment before relaxing herself, “Yes. Yes — I agree. I don’t always agree with onii-chan, but I feel that it’s the right thing to do.”

Ruby is unusually rationally quick about her decisions. Was she ever like this?

I laughed a little as I exhaled in gratitude, “Oh, god, thank you. I don’t think I could have gotten the final say without you, honestly.” 

Ruby pinched her nose, “So… what do we do with that clip? Do we just skip all over that part in the final video?”

“Simple.” Kana sat back on the couch with both of her legs crossed, putting back her beret in a graceful swoosh, “We ‘react’ to it again, like we just watched it for the first time.”

Ah.

I smirked.

They learn quickly, after all.

There are two things I can concludes about Bae Sejin:

Number one: he avoids talking about his past being an actor. Not in a sense that, ‘Don’t ever bring it up, ever!’ but in a delivery that tells you that it’s not relevant in this current survival show. Which is untrue, seeing that most of his votes come from his previous career.

Second, it’s not clear whether he wants people to bring it up. Does he want people to recognize his former glory?

See, that’s the difference. With Kana, she wants her former status back — clinging to the past even if it’s — sadly — irrelevant. Sure, she has the status quo of being a genius child, but the truth is that she's just being treated like any other run of the mill actor. She doesn't hate being recognized as a child actor, but it’s not like she’s proud that it’s her only greatest accomplishment. 

“Next question!” The MC looked at his card, “Name five side dishes with greens!”

I forgot to mention. They’re now picking the teams for the second team match.

Kim Raebin yelled in an instant the five dishes, Moondae looking at him in the side with confusion? Surprise? Awe? It wasn’t clear, but I can commend Kim Raebin a little. Moondae is a colleague tolerable enough to interact with if he ever decided to be a corporate worker. Not a bad first choice.

Raebin, in actuality, looks intimidating.

But that’s just appearance-wise. I doubt he’s the type to do anything unwise seeing that he came from a well-known agency alongside Cha Eugene.

So on and forth… Kim Raebin is an interesting individual. Not because of any external factors like looks, but rather because of his unusual decision. One may say that picking Moondae is the optimal decision considering he’s an amazing vocalist, but I think there's a rather — hidden reason behind it.

There was a fiasco between the last performance between the group that Raebin was in, and I only realized the severity of it when I saw it being aired live…

Ah. I see.

You want to use Moondae as a new piece to your chessboard, don’t you? A shiny piece, though. Not a bad decision.

“Participant Kim Raebin, you have a high average of correct answers! Please choose your next teammate.”

“...I’ll choose participant Hoshino Aqua.”

I take back what I said. I’m not sure I can call this decision wise, considering Moondae was glaring daggers between me and Raebin like he was trying to figure out which one of us to eliminate first.

It’s fine, Moondae. You’re probably thinking, ‘Why am I always stuck with this guy?’ I understand. The probability of this recurring suggests either an unknown influencing factor like-god laughing at us or sheer statistical unlucky misfortune that destined us to always be in the same team decided by everyone.

Personally, I suspect both.

As if it weren’t already awkward enough that I had never spoken to or interacted with Raebin until now, or the fact that I was chosen second made it more interesting. Given that Moondae was already on the team, it’s unlikely that my selection was based on vocals.

I mentally reviewed my stats and exhaled internally. Well, I already know the real reason. I’m not that ignorant.

“Participant Lee Sejin A, please—”

Okay.

Sure. It’s not like I didn’t talk to him ominously earlier.

Kim Raebin, Cha Eugene, Ryu Chungwoo, Min Junhoon, Park Moondae, Bae Sejin and me.

All are within…

The top ten?

What is with this overpowered lineup? Is there no limit on how many top participants can enter in one single group? How is there no consideration for the rest of the groups, anyways? Does the broadcasting company have no shame whatsoever?

I took a deep breath. That doesn't concern me.

LIke the other teams like Bae Sejin being in the same team as lurkingly-suspicious Choi Wongil.

Just in good-willed timing, Choi Wongil stared towards me and Moondae intentionally in a sort of, ‘Oh, you guys weren’t in the October 31 reunion? Too bad for you.’ like that’s some kind of viable insult for both of us. I hope Moondae didn’t take too much offense to it considering how pathetic the move is. I wouldn’t want to be in the same team with a guy who didn’t know the concept of cameras and evil editing.

I didn't pay much attention to them right now. If they become a bother, then I’d find a way to deal with that.

“Hello.”

“Hello!”

“Hello~”

“Amazing~!” one said in perfect English. Everyone knows who said it, so I don’t have to mention it here, do I?

Unanimously, Ryu Chungwoo became the leader by superiority. That’s understandable, and naturally everyone had no objections.

“That suits you well.” Junhoon smiled

“Ah, let’s get along well.” he said.

Raebin bowed a little, “Yes. Let’s get along.”

“That’s right.” I joined in as I put my hands together, “Let’s get along~”

.Moondae and Bae Sejin clapped silently and looked down in approval.

After that, they announced that our next team performances are based on songs that are good, but didn’t really become popular publicly. It was like, ‘This song is good, but no one knew them, so we’ll use them again.’

Which sounds familiar to me…

How many times will they make the activities PR promotions? It’s painfully obvious that they’re doing this to get rid of additional fees from copyrighted songs that are well-known. Not to mention that most of these songs that didn’t do well are likely sponsored by these artists to be in this show.

“Do you see the table behind me? These are the favorite items which were picked by the singers who are participating in this match!”

“The team should use their intuitions to decide the best item to choose! Then team leaders will race to grab the item.”

Looking over beside, I was shocked when Bae Sejin initiated a conversation with Moondae first.

Raebin approached, “I’m going to ask Chungwoo-hyung to check the item from a close distance and pick the one that looks the most expensive.”

I raised my eyebrows, “I don’t think so. You’re given only one moment to look before someone else grabs it.”

They looked all over me, confused.

“What?” I chuckled. “Did I say something weird? If you’re thinking about monetary value, most people would pick the luxury bag. But you can’t examine it beforehand, right? How do you know it’s the most expensive? What if it’s valuable to them for sentimental reasons?”

I continued, “Or take the baseball ball — its worth depends on the signature. It could be from an unknown player, making it meaningless as an autograph. The DVD might just be their favorite movie, not something rare. There are too many unknown variables. But if you think about it simply… why would they put it there if it wasn’t valuable in some way? These items must be worth something.”

Raebin frowned, “Then what do you suggest?”

“Oh, nothing.” I dismissively laughed, “The MC said to trust your intuition, right? That’s up to Ryu Chungwoo.”

Moondae, fed up, cut in, “Okay. If you were the leader, what would you pick?”

“Eh? You’re asking for my opinion?” I placed a hand over my chest.

I had taken a liking to teasing them every now and then. Maybe that’s Aqua’s personality on IJoCo.

Bae Sejin nodded quickly.

“How thoughtful…” I hummed, “I would pick the baseball."

“Why?” Raebin asked.

“Because no one would show off a signed ball that's worth nothing, no matter how they like the player. I had thought that was common knowledge. Is the baseball culture different here?”

“No.” Moondae pinched his nose, “We understand.”

I smirked slightly. The moment Ryu Chungwoo dashed off the tables, he grabbed the ball almost immediately without competition. He told someone about knowing the person who signed it — and I deduced from everyones reactions that it was someone well-known.

“Well, I can say for sure you guys picked the right leader.” I looked over to them, before Chungwoo tilted his head confusingly towards me.

“Wow, that's amazing!” Eugene clapped.

“It’s nothing.” Chungwoo said humbly.

“Hello, voice of the band Taeyangsum here.” I held the ball up high while holding the mic, “I’m Lee Chanwoo, a singer.”

“Alright! Owner of the authentic photograph, the vocalist of the idol group, ‘Taeyangsum’, Lee Chanwoo!”

“...Germany?” Eugene echoed.

Raebin and Chungwoo side eyed him, while Raebin leaned closer, effectively telling him to stay quiet and shut up.

I had thought they had given some slack to the American guy. It’s not like he’s the only foreigner here.

<Burning Like The Sun>

However , I don’t trust a song with a name like that. Is that why it didn’t sell well?

He explained that it was a baseball cheering song that was used all year round in Korea that no matter if you’re a fan of baseball or not, you heard the song at least once. Released seven years ago. Cheerleading anthem…

So it wasn’t unpopular. You just didn’t have the chance to promote it. Just solidifies my theory of Tnet being paid off to feature it.

Oh, what is this? Do I need the system again?

 “Of course I know. It’s a great song.” Chungwoo nods.

“...I hope everyone uses this opportunity to create an awesome performance using it.”

“Yes! We’ll do our best, sir!” Junhoon yelled.

Alas, there was a ten minute break after that.

Status window. Open ‘Achievement.’

I have one remaining point left. If I was a reasonable individual, I would pick the visual by now and increase the other ones later.

In reality, I have no chance to fight subject of visuals being beside everyone in the team. Kim Raebin… Cha Eugene… Ryu Chungwoo… and even Aqua being the strongest one in the list. Even if I couldn’t see his stats, for some reason I knew he was sub-par level with all of them.

About Hoshino…

He’s perceptive, but he likes to act dumb.

What is the reasoning behind this? I have no idea. But it can’t be anything by someone with good intent. Even between Wongil and Aqua, at least the former’s intentions were clear and shown. It’s like I’m experiencing the second coming of Bae Sejin.

There’s no doubt now that after I step out of this filming, antis would swarm me immediately for trying to copy his blonde hair style. As if bleaching your hair is anything new in this industry.

Also… that livestream.

He mentioned me as ‘someone close’.

Not his friend. Not his closest ally. He used a term that was safer to interpret as him just merely being friendly whenever I pass by.

He may want people to see him as clumsy like Eugene, but I’m not one to fall for that. 

Every interaction with him feels like he’s trying to squeeze something out of me. If it can’t be helped though… It's mutual, Aqua, so don’t worry. I want to learn more about you too.

…

I had gotten ‘Look at Me (D)!’ twice, and I was given a choice to combine them like in one of those crappy mobile gacha games.

Anyhow…. After waiting…

Combination Successful!

‘I Want To Become The Center (C)!’ acquired!

After pondering whether the cheesy name was worth the benefits attached to it, I was approached by Ryu Chungwoo.

“It’s time for our team to have a meeting. What do you think?” he stopped his steps, “Is that alright with you?”

“Yes. That’s okay with me.”

Go ahead, you’re the leader. I get confused when people consult me out of all people when it comes to various matters.

“Is everyone here?” Chungwoo asks before sitting down, “Okay. Let’s explain what type of performance we should do. In my opinion, doing a cheerleading song is good for me. What do you think?”

With the highest stats… it’s scary. 

It’s Cha Eugene, of course. Seeing multiple A’s lined up together makes it all the more intimidating. 

“Cheerleading?” Cha Eugene asks, like it revitalized a core memory inside of him.

“Then….” he continues, “It’s okay. It’s an experience that’s cool enough…”

Mind you, these are the words of a guy whose stats are higher than Youngrin, an actual debuted idol. His charm stat is so high that it’s inevitable that people would agree with him.

And so they did.

Looking at the other people around me, my charm stat is only a measly C+. Comparing it to Aqua — whom I don’t even know what his stats is — I can tell from gut instinct that I’ll definitely be buried and forcibly shoved back from everyone during the performance.

“What about those who haven’t spoken yet? Sejin, what do you think?” Chungwoo looks at his direction, his expression being surprised by the sudden attention drafted towards him.

“It will look tacky.” he notes, “I think it would be—”

“Overused… overplayed… boring is what people may think. I’m not on board with it, but it’s not an entirely terrible idea.” Aqua cutted off, 

Sejin squints his eyes, “Yes. What he said.”

“Do you have any suggestions you want to share with everyone, Hoshino?” Chungwoo blinked multiple times, “You were quiet like Sejin earlier.”

“Nothing. I can’t make a comment that early since we haven’t heard the song yet.” he added.

“Yes…” Chungwoo paused, “Okay. Noted.”

If you were here, it might look tense, but Aqua is doing him a great favor right now. I suppose his strategy was Bae Sejin finally having someone to back up what he thinks about the song so he isn’t the only ‘outlier’ out of everyone who agreed with Chungwoo.

In simple words, it softens the blow that Sejin might receive. Or none at all since Aqua is a more favoured participant compared to him

“Raebin, what do you think?”

“I agree with Hoshino. I’d have to listen to the song before making any judgments.”

After listening to it…

Safe to say… not everyone was in the great mood like earlier.

“The key—” Chungwoo placed his hand over to the side of his jawline, “Let’s say this objectively…it’s ridiculously high.”

“How about the rap parts? Can’t we add some of that?” Eugene raised his hands.

Moondae shook his head, “No, we need to figure out how to fix the high note.”

“...Or if it’s even possible to hit, first of all.” Chungwoo frowned.

However, I found myself taking back my words earlier. We have more problems than sulking on whoever, however, why, or how to fix that.

I took a peek at Raebin.

And, if you see the main composer of your group placing both of his hands over his head in a sort of rethinking, it’s usually not a good sign of success.

“Raebin, what do you think—”

“The song is good… but I’ll…” he looked at Chungwoo for a second before looking down again, “It’ll be hard to recompose again.”

“Any other difficulties?”

“That….” he glared in front of the cameras. It was only a split second — or he’d get scolded by the staff later for breaking the immersion, “I… there's no problem at all.”

More or less, he’s worried about his public image due to his past editing in the earlier episodes. Not that I could blame him for his paranoia, but his uncertainty in here would even make him more of a victim to—

“It’s okay to express your own feelings, Raebin.” Aqua patted his back. I had almost forgotten he was beside him, “You should let out what you want to truly say. After all, you’re our composer, aren’t you? We can’t move forward without your feedback.”

“There's…” he stilled, “There’s nothing more I can say. I need outsider feedback once we get to practice it altogether.”

“Hm, but it doesn't seem that way.” he chuckled lightly, pointing his finger towards his chin, “There’s certainly no pressure, of course, but it would just be great if we get your full insights.”

“I—” he hesitated, “I…”

“What is it?” he smiled.

“I—”

“Ah, but it’s alright if you don’t want to… It would be a shame for everyone, though! You’re really talented~” he sighed, “Chungwoo-san, who’s next?”

“Moondae, it seems.”

It was finally my turn to speak, “I think there’s—”

But so…

Even so…

I was cut off.

Raebin relented, “I think the song is impossible right now. In terms of composition, it’s not made for idols and from a producing perspective, It’s a poorly made, inconsiderate, and fleshless song if it were to be released by a well known group today. It’s a good song, but it’s unusable right now.”

Raebin held a bunch of heaved, tiny breaths that were only seeable to the eye if you focused hard enough on his statued aura. He held his eyes wide open, as if he’s dispensing a dark, dark secret in front of everybody.

A moment later, he became conscious of the camera and tried to stabilize himself.

Aqua looked over to the side, feigning mild disappointment. He sighed, “Oh… that's quite a pity. I didn’t know the song was that bad…”

He just reacts with mild disappointment, as if he had nothing to do with Raebin’s outburst.

Raebin’s breath was still uneven, his hands twitching ever so slightly at his sides. His expression hadn’t caught up to the weight of what he’d just said, but I could already see it — the creeping realization settling in, the awareness that his words had been spoken on record, fully captured and ready to be replayed however the editors saw fit.

And yet, they weren’t just his words.

Aqua had never once voiced his own thoughts on the song, but I could tell. He had known. He had agreed. Raebin’s criticism about the song was — without a doubt — the very same opinion Aqua must have held all along — yet instead of saying it himself, he had carefully maneuvered Raebin into speaking for him.

A few well-placed reassurances, a little encouragement, a slight push when Raebin hesitated. It hadn’t been overt, hadn't felt manipulative or ill-mannered, hadn’t even felt coercive, and even offered Raebin not to say it if he felt pressured, but in the end, Raebin had been the one to put those thoughts into the air. Not Aqua.

And if those words were cut, rearranged, and twisted into something damning? If the audience needed someone to pin it on?

It wouldn’t be Hoshino Aqua.

It would be Kim Raebin.

He took a deep breath, lowering his head slightly before muttering, “Thank you for backing me up. I… I think the whole team deserves to hear the truth.”

Aqua smiled, tilting his head. “Ah? What are you talking about? We’re more thankful to you.”

Raebin nodded, almost relieved. As if Aqua had done him a favor. As if he had been the one struggling to speak, and Aqua had merely given him the push he needed.

Raebin, already hyper-aware of the cameras, already weighed down by his past editing, already hesitant to say too much or too little — Aqua had seen that. And he had used it. A few gentle reassurances, a little encouragement, the kind of well-placed words that made silence feel like the greater mistake.

“So…” Chungwoo sighed, “Now that’s settled. What now?”

“We can deal with that later, can’t we?” Bae Sejin answered.

I finally continued, “I think there’s something else to deal with.”

“Which is?” Cha Eugene asked.

“Part distribution. Let’s go to the practice rooms.”

“I found out why.”

“Why?”

“We got raided.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Kana rolled her eyes, “Out of everything ? What the hell happened when I was gone?”

“Not a positive result… but it explains it.” I sighed, ”I would be delusional to think that our promotions and my Youtube channel immediately landed us 50k viewers. But yes, out of everything, that’s why.”

“Ah…” Ruby pouted, “I… I didn’t notice immediately. I apologize.”

“No…” I grumbled, “Don’t worry. I hadn't noticed it until I saw a clip of it today. We were too focused on Ruby’s poor laner skills.”

“Oi! Please don’t—”

Ruby was in pure denial.

“Anyways. The good news is that at least ten thousand to fifteen thousand of our viewers are our own, first of all. It’s not all grumpy sad-sad, alright?” I reassured them all, “Besides, the person that raided us isn’t all that bad. He’s a variety content streamer who does this occasionally. Turns out he’s a friend of my friend.”

“ Everyone is your friend of a friend…” Kana slumped her back against the couch, “Well if raids get us money, then let it be,” Kana yawned.

We looked at her.

“What? What did I say wrong?”

“Although… the next one…” I looked all over the room, trying to prolong the inevitable, “I don’t think you’ll like this much Ruby…”

“Hey!” Ruby pouted, “It can’t be that bad! Anything that helps, helps!”

Well… How can I say this…

“If you say so…” I pointed my fingers against each other… “I… uh — eto…”

“Come on!”

“You became a meme, Ruby.”

“Hah!?”

Kana made the single worst mistake of her life.

She scrolled through Twitter, in what I presume to be the picture Ruby was memed in, and showed it to us.

“Pffff—”

Her body jolted, trying to hold it in. Her hand slapped over her mouth. Her eyes widened in raw, unfiltered horror at the absolute goldmine she had just witnessed.

Then she exploded.

Kana wheezed, clutching her stomach as she slid off the couch and collapsed onto the floor. She slapped the ground like she was trying to exorcise a demon, rolling onto her back, gasping for air. “Oh my god — that’s —” She wheezed again, tears in her eyes. “You look so— I didn’t even realize it until—” She couldn’t even finish.

“Hey! Don’t laugh!” Ruby whined, lunging at her, but Kana was too far gone.

“N-no — No , I can’t—” 

“Loli-senpai! Die ! Stop! Stop laughing!”

Kana, still on the floor, weakly lifted a thumbs-up. “W-worth it.” Then she burst into another fit of laughter.

“Okay, okay . Stop.” I sighed, trying to separate the brats, “It got around twenty… million views on Twitter. It came from our MV, so that explains the sudden burst of views.”

“What if we sell out our album because Ruby looked stupid?” Kana held back another laugh, before being smacked by Ruby with another pillow, “Would that — ouch — work — ouch — as a marketing strategy? Ouch — stop!”

“ Shut up , loli-senpai. I’m going to broadcast your bell pepper exercises on the Tokyo radio tomorrow no matter how much it costs.”

“Okay…” Kana replied, but she almost held out a wheeze.

“Anyhow… we can worry about that later. I already satiated my curiosity enough.”

Ruby placed a thumbs up, “Yes, let's get this topic over with.”

“No, it involves you again, Ruby.” I said, “What’s with our performance? The details? I thought you’re in charge of this?”

“I am!” she stood up from the floor, “I contacted a Youtuber from our agency. She said that she has some scrap songs we can use upon Miyaemon’s request.”

“And?” Kana asked.

“And I picked some. Our theme for that day is… playfulness.”

Kana looked baffled, “What the hell is that theme? Can’t it get any more broader than it is?”

“That’s the point. It may be good for us because we don’t have the time to create our own song! The contest rules state that it must be an original song not found anywhere else.”

I put my arms around my waist, “And whose fault is that?”

“Hey…” she pouted, “I’m the one giving out the connections here already! Besides, it doesn't hurt for you guys to take a peek at it.”

Ruby took out her phone, showing us an audio file.

“Okay,” I sighed, “Bring it on.”

I'm a vampire

Is it OK if I suck you?

"I can't take it anymore" you're such a bad boy.

I want to try it, I want to spit it all out.

I can definitely go more

“Ummm…” Kana blinked multiple times, trying to process it.

“Are—” I looked at her cautiously, “Are you sure this is… okay?”

Ruby didn’t respond, skipping to the chorus.

You're a vampire too

It's OK if you suck me up, go ahead

"I can't take it anymore" I want you to make me say it too

I could never do it with anybody else.

Let me praise you

“Well…” Kana inhaled sharply, “It’s definitely… catchy…”

“It’s okay,” I took on a more mature route, “Teenagers always think about sex, and idol songs aren’t always innocent!”

Kana grumbled, “Don’t remind me of that.”

“What? It’s a good song.”

“Hm? Yes. It’s a good song.” Ruby finally replied, “See! I see no complaints from you all!”

“Oh, yes. No… complaints at all.” Kana mumbled.

“Come on, Kana. We’ve heard and seen worse from idol songs. Besides, Ruby did pick a good song.” I said.

“Don’t we have any other alternatives?”

Ruby poked, “I have, but they’re all EDM—”

” Okay. I take it back. This is alright.”

I asked, “Is it bad if I say this song is growing on me?”

“No! No, I like it as well.” Ruby nodded.

“Like what? The lyrics or the arrangement?” Kana frowned.

“The song!”

“...That’s not my question.”

“If you ignore the lyrics, it is a good song. Remind yourself that, Kana. Professionalism.”

“Fine.” 

To put it lightly, the song is too mediocre to be good enough for a survival show.

The horrible amount of high notes makes the advantage tilt into Moondae’s favor.

“So, is there no one except Moondae who can sing until the chorus?”

“Excuse me. I’d suggest we lower the key before distributing the parts?”

Everyone nods at me.

Bingo.

I look over to Moondae. Major opinion shifts into everyone wanting to change the arrangement first. What do you do?

It will still end up like this, no matter how much you want to assign parts. 

It makes sense. Nobody can sing other than you.

Everyone was presenting ways to change the tempo, or to add/remove parts of the song, but leader Ryu Chungwoo stepped in.

“...The team members need to sing it.”

He looks over to Raebin.

Ah, Raebin. He expressed his less than favorable opinion towards the song earlier, so everyone was a little hesitant to ask him any more.

“We need you to rearrange it so we can start practicing. Can you lower the key and rearrange the song so it fits the concept?”

There’s really no fighting back for Raebin here. Considering his less than favorable public opinion despite his high rank, it’s safe to assume that he thinks he’s powerless in this situation. Not to mention, when he confessed that he hated the song earlier, he’d been more than quiet.

Moondae looks at me in a weird way.

“Yes… I’ll do that right away.”

Now, I’m not saying that whatever Raebin produces next would automatically become an amazing product, but whether or not the arrangement or the distribution would be first…

It would still suck.

We’re still rookies, after all.

“The cameras aren’t rolling.” Aqua says with a smile, bowing slightly when we met with Keun Sejin in the same training room.

“A-Ah, hello to you as well.” Ahyeon nodded.

“How are you?”

“Haha, I’m good. When’s your evaluation by the judges?”

“Later.” he answered, “Just here to rest.”

The room was filled with people not in our same team, including those who were part of October 31, and those who weren’t. Among those people, of course — were Bae Sejin sitting in the corner, drinking an almost empty bottle of water.

With so many people in a small room, everyone could hear what everyone was saying. 

Including what they were talking about.

“How’s your group?”

“Doing alright. As always, Ahyeon is a great performer.”

“Hm. I couldn’t expect any less.”

“I heard your sister reacted to you.”

It was evident that he didn’t expect that.

However, he kept smiling, albeit a little harder, his eyes twitching a little slightly.

“What about her?”

“Nothing. I found it funny.”

Aqua puts his hand together, “Good. Anyways, how was your day?”

Cha Eugene took interest in the conversation, surprised, “You have a sister?”

Keun Sejin nodded. “A twin one, at that. I kind of relate — I have a younger sister as well.”

I already knew this guy had an idol sister. I had thought it was obvious when Aqua dropped that letter. But I wasn’t aware the group itself made a reaction towards one of the episodes.

Kim Raebin approached the upcoming crowd, perhaps he felt a little left out.

“Hello.“ he simply said.

“Did you know his sister is an idol?”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Oh that’s not really relevant—” he laughed a little awkwardly, shaking his head.

Chungwoo took interest, noticing the growing crowd, “What’s the name of the group?”

He chuckled, “You wouldn’t like her music very much—”

“No, I’m very interested. A talented individual’s blood relative must share the same skills, no?”

“I’m touched, but…“ he continued, “She just does cheering music, it’s really not that—”

“Cheering music? I love cheering music!” Cha Eugene beamed, shaking Aqua’s shoulders.

“You… you don’t mind her that much,” Aqua smiled, shaking off from Eugene's grip, “She’s doing her own thing…”

Ah. This guy doesn't like to talk about her that much. Not because he hates her — because I doubt that is, but rather it’s more of the sibling playfulness. 

I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had family.

Bae Sejin appeared behind Seon Ahyeon, shocking him, “I’m interested. I didn’t know you had a relative that was an idol.”

I heard Aqua mumble what seemed to be like Japanese curses under his breath so quietly, that if I wasn’t directly beside him I wouldn’t hear it.

“If you insist,” he sighed, “It’s not really interesting, though. She’s different from the idols in this country, so I’m just putting that here.”

“That’s fine.”

“She’s from our agency back home. More specifically, she—”

“Taught you the dance for the initial screening of the first episode?”

I almost held a laugh. Was Keun Sejin trying to sabotage this guy?

“She did?” Cha Eugene, “That’s so cool!”

“Yes.” Aqua finally resigned, sighing, “Honestly, she’s so hyperactive that she hurts my head sometimes, so I couldn’t handle her eight hour practices.”

“Eight… hours?!” Kim Raebin looked horrified, “How much does she get paid…?”

“I’m afraid it’s voluntary… I can’t sleep properly because of her.”

Voluntary?! No wonder she looked absolutely energetic in the MV.

He put his hands together, “That’s all that’s interesting, so I’m sorry if that bore you all—”

“No, no, continue! I want to hear more.”

I looked at his face, and despite it now showing in his expressions, I can read his mind from a mile away.

‘Seriously?! Can’t we end this conversation already? Get on another topic’ 

“You haven’t told us the name yet.” Chungwoo chuckled, stretching his arms.

This is inevitable, Hoshino Aqua. Accept it.

But Keun Sejin answered instead, “It’s B-Komachi. He mentioned this in a livestream, but they didn’t add his promotion to the final cut.”

Aqua nodded, “Yes, that’s the name. If this airs out on TV, I can’t go home because she’ll tease me for a minimum of one year.”

I thought about it.

This won’t be the last time your sister will be mentioned, Aqua. Embrace the blood connection and accept that you’re ultimately associated with whatever action she does in the future.

“My ear itches.” Ruby, bored out of her mind for the millionth time, complained.

“Means someone is talking about you.” I said, scrolling endlessly on my phone.

“People always talk about me!”

“It’s not always in a positive way so be careful, I suppose…” Memcho transferred the audio file that Ruby sent to Miyako’s computer, “We have one month left.”

“Till the performance?”

“...Till the performance.”