Chapter 104
“I looked around SNS a bit, and there’s total chaos over the audition. Some fans are saying they’ve completely switched over here from the idol they used to stan, others are saying they’ll make this their sub-fandom, things like that.”
“Are you saying we should target them?”
“Yes. Most of these people live in the metropolitan area where these kinds of events happen often, so even if we post a notice just one or two hours in advance on the same day, a lot of them will be able to come running right away.”
What Ji-hyeon meant was that they should make it a little easier for those fans—help each other out, so to speak.
For example, allowing them to freely take photos at the venue without security stopping them, or arranging a separate photo time so they can take pictures properly.
They could also let all event participants take photos together with the audition contestants, and if they upload those photos to SNS, select winners by lottery to give out gifts.
“These are people who already have affection for idols. The on-site response will probably be good.”
“I see.”
And when you hold events like this, there are always certain people who come.
The so-called “home masters,” who bring cameras and take photos.
There isn’t a single home master who would refuse when told they can take photos freely without restrictions.
Especially if the subjects are contestants from a hot audition program right now—‘pre-idols’ whose debut might be decided by the very photos they take.
“They’ll probably hype up the atmosphere on-site, and when others see the photos they upload, new fans will form on SNS, and that structure will keep reproducing itself.”
“Oh…!”
“If we lay the groundwork like that, crowds will naturally gather around, and I think the kind of picture you had in mind, PD-nim, will come together naturally as well.”
“……”
Yeongjun was silent for a long moment, then suddenly sprang up from his seat and looked at Ji-hyeon.
Then he started clapping.
“Excellent. As expected… But how do you know all this in such detail?”
“Well, it’s just… I’ve been in this industry the longest, after all.”
Of course, producers—that is, idols—don’t know this structure in such depth.
But she couldn’t exactly say she had been hardcore fangirling for years, either.
In any case, Yeongjun responded positively to Ji-hyeon’s opinion. The only concern was that it might deviate from the original intent of the program, but that too was sorted out.
Even if there was a slight deviation, there was no disagreement that it would greatly help the contestants and the program thrive.
“Then we’ll proceed with a guerrilla event right after the dance ability evaluation ends.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll need to look into people to contact in advance, so it’ll probably be around next week. Ah, Ji-hyeon-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“When we begin preparing the event in earnest, could you help out a bit?”
That much was nothing. It didn’t seem like they were asking for major advice.
Ji-hyeon nodded readily.
“I will.”
“Alright. Then I’ll see you at the next filming.”
‘A guerrilla event.’
To see something like this in a survival audition program—interesting.
Though slightly uncertain, Ji-hyeon smiled faintly.
‘It’ll go well. It’s not a bad idea.’
A-grade dorm.
“Um, unnie.”
“Yeah?”
Seung-hye, who had snuck in with Rin to hang out, slowly crawled over toward Ah-young, who was in a corner.
Carefully sitting beside Ah-young so they wouldn’t be spotted by stepping out of a blind spot, Seung-hye asked,
“Can I ask now why you picked me?”
“Ah….”
Come to think of it, she had asked earlier during their short practice, too.
Ah-young had said she’d answer later, but she hesitated, worried it might hurt Seung-hye’s feelings—and then forgot.
The same hesitation lingered now.
“Well….”
While Ah-young was hesitating, Rin, who had nothing else to do, also wriggled over and leaned in to listen.
“Do you know who I like the most?”
“Of course. It’s An Ji-hyeon from MOA.”
“You told us before, unnie,” Rin chimed in from the side.
“Right.”
Ah-young answered quietly, trailing off before continuing in a low voice.
“As you both know, after this competition ends and maybe one or two rounds later, there’s that event-style stage where we perform with the judges.”
“Was there? Seung-hye unnie?”
“There was. You didn’t know that either?”
Seung-hye said, patting Rin’s head lightly.
“The staff told us at the beginning when they were giving instructions. That there would be an event like that.”
“Ohh?”
“I’ll give you the booklet later. It’s written in there.”
Anyway, that aside. Getting back to the point, Seung-hye asked again.
“Does it have something to do with Ji-hyeon-nim?”
“Yeah. It’s not some huge connection or anything—more like killing two birds with one stone, kind of experimental. I’ll explain step by step.”
Ah-young slowly laid out her thoughts.
It was true that she had planned the stage itself with a cute concept.
That’s why she chose a song mixed with cute choreography, and afterward selected members who were all small and petite as well—to highlight each other.
“With you there, relatively speaking, we can immerse ourselves more into the concept, and because of our presence, you can stand out more too.”
“Wouldn’t it feel unbalanced?”
“It will be unbalanced. But that’s natural. If I were going for a balanced, uniform concept, I wouldn’t have picked you.”
Of course, if the gap was made too big, it could look really awkward.
She planned to stage it just enough—not too blatant, but enough that anyone could tell Seung-hye was the tallest.
“I wanted it to feel like you’re leading the whole thing.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Yeah.”
For example, at the beginning, Seung-hye could seem to cast magic to wake up the other members lying on the floor.
Or during the dance break, Seung-hye could dance in the center while the others support her with smaller, less exaggerated movements around her.
“Or like a duck family—where you walk across the center of the stage, and we trail along behind you in a line?”
Anyway, she had a lot of ideas. The biggest issue was how to incorporate those choreographies into the song without disrupting its flow—
“I think if we all put our heads together and think about it, it’ll get better. We can get some advice from the mentor too.”
“I understand what you mean, unnie. And I think I understand what you said earlier, too.”
Seung-hye smiled faintly.
“You want to perform on stage with Ji-hyeon-nim, right?”
“…Yeah.”
What was there to deny?
The reason she chose Seung-hye as her second pick was precisely because she felt similar to Ji-hyeon.
A unique face and tall height. And though the texture was a bit different, an image that anyone could love.
For practicing for Ji-hyeon—or thinking of her as Ji-hyeon—the current situation couldn’t be better.
“But how did you know?”
“I can tell just by your expression. And—”
Seung-hye grinned.
“No matter how experienced you are, if you hadn’t been thinking about this for a long time, it wouldn’t be easy to come up with something this detailed in just one day.”
“You’re really perceptive.”
She could understand why everyone liked her. In fact, that was one of the reasons she picked Seung-hye.
“I thought you’d understand how I feel. And one more thing—I wanted to get closer to you.”
“Oh my, hearing that makes me feel really strange and, like, happy.”
“You weren’t upset?”
“About what? That I’m just a substitute for Ji-hyeon unnie?”
What a dangerous thing to say. Seung-hye waved her hands quickly.
“If I can build some inner closeness with Ji-hyeon-nim even like that, it’s an honor for me.”
“I see.”
“But unnie. There’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“That plan—was it designed in a way that fits the purpose of a survival audition program?”
