Chapter 109
“And you’re acting as if your actions are noble and just, but like I said, what you’re doing in this situation is wrong.”
From the beginning, the number of people who can debut is fixed. If debut is the goal, it’s only natural to beat the others and rise above them.
“Honestly, rather than pretending to be all noble like you do on the surface, someone who uses every possible means to eliminate their competition looks more righteous. Did you know that?”
Of course you wouldn’t know. Your head is filled with nothing but flowers.
Sehee suppressed the urge to snap those words out loud and instead added quietly,
“I’ll say this again—if you can’t even have ambition, then don’t dare steal someone else’s opportunity. Just stay still. You don’t deserve to succeed.”
“Unni—!”
What greeted Ayoung when she returned to the dorm was Seunghye and Rin, who had once again casually shown up to hang out from somewhere.
Ayoung tried to force a smile, but she couldn’t welcome them warmly.
Because of what Sehee had said.
‘You don’t deserve to succeed.’
Was I really wrong?
She kept replaying those words in her head. Honestly, they weren’t entirely wrong.
But that didn’t mean everything Sehee said was right either.
There was no need to be that ruthless.
‘I don’t need to be shaken by what unni said.’
She admitted that ambition was necessary. But she refused to accept anything beyond that.
She could prove that Sehee wasn’t completely right.
“Seunghye, Rin.”
“Yes, unni.”
Leaving Eunseo where she was, Ayoung grabbed the two of their hands and stood up, speaking with a determined expression.
“Let’s practice.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. Right now.”
The practice room could be freely used until the competition.
There were about four days left until the competition day, so there was enough time to prepare.
The five of them arrived at the practice room together. Before starting practice, Ayoung seated all the team members and slowly began to speak.
“The stage composition won’t change. Like I planned before, we’ll center it around Seunghye.”
However, what would change was the weight of the performance.
“I want to appeal in a way where everyone stands out together. So I was thinking—what if we increase the portion of the group choreography a bit more, following this choreography draft?”
That way, instead of one person shining alone, each member could express their individuality more clearly within a structured framework.
As Ayoung explained, she also reached her own conclusion.
She acknowledged part of what Sehee said. It was true that, without realizing it, she had designed the stage while thinking about performing with Ahn Jihyun. She also admitted that her earlier resolve had been somewhat flimsy.
But she wouldn’t follow Sehee’s words completely. She would find her own answer.
So even later, when they finished practice and were taking a short break, and Sehee approached her with a frown—
“Seeing that the stage composition hasn’t changed much in the end, I guess you didn’t properly understand what I said.”
—even then, Ayoung answered firmly.
“No. I definitely changed the stage composition. I just didn’t follow your words exactly, unni.”
“What?”
“After listening to you, I thought carefully about why I wanted to join this audition program in the first place.”
Mate. It was to protect the team she loved so dearly.
If that team could continue to exist, nothing else mattered. Yes—just as Sehee said, she was even willing to win by eliminating Seunghye, Rin, or Eunseo, despite being close to them now.
That determination had become clearer.
“But I also realized that the process doesn’t have to involve brutally trampling others.”
She wasn’t saying she wouldn’t compete.
But unlike what Sehee suggested, there was no need to completely exclude others and act only for herself.
There was such a thing as fair competition.
“Even though we’ve already formed a team, I don’t think we need to crush that team too. So instead of putting myself forward, I changed the choreography so everyone could have equal opportunities.”
“The fact that you had the authority to do otherwise but still chose your team over yourself just proves you lack ambition.”
“How is that lacking ambition? It just means it isn’t ugly. And if I tried to make only myself stand out in a team performance, wouldn’t that make the stage itself strange?”
If that ended up ruining the performance—
“Then I’d just be someone who tried to stand out alone and ruined the stage, which would ultimately hurt me too. I think that is foolish ambition.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Yes. Because people don’t live alone in this world.”
After answering, Ayoung finally left, looking relieved.
Perhaps because she had reached her own conclusion, her expression remained bright throughout practice, and her movements were full of energy.
Sehee instinctively felt that it would become a good stage.
In the end, it seemed she had fulfilled Ahn Jihyun’s request.
The strange sense of satisfaction she felt was probably that of “Jang Sehee.”
But an equally strong discomfort slowly crept up as well.
Those were the emotions of “Ahn Jihyun.”
People don’t live alone in this world? What a ridiculous thing to say.
You can only say that because you haven’t experienced everything yet.
For now, no matter what anyone said, Ayoung’s words would feel more convincing in reality.
Only a few of the lowest-ranked contestants had been eliminated so far; the real competition hadn’t begun yet.
But as the rounds passed, moments would come when she would understand the meaning behind those words more and more.
And when that moment came, Sehee thought Ayoung’s expression would be quite a sight to see.
Because if Ayoung didn’t fall into despair, it would feel as if her own life had been denied.
How arrogant.
As she turned away, those final words lingered in her mouth.
She found herself imagining—what if Sehee, no, “Ahn Jihyun,” had asked Moa’s members for help back then?
If she had trusted and relied on them just a little more, would the result have been different?
But Sehee soon decided such thoughts were meaningless.
In the end, the Moa members hadn’t trusted her completely either.
Two days later, the day before the competition.
‘Finally, the second episode airs.’
As soon as her phone alarm rang, Jihyun, who had been resting, quickly grabbed some snacks and a glass of water and rushed to the TV.
Why did waiting through the logo, the commercials, and the start time feel so unbearable?
On top of that, there was quite a lot to prepare this time.
A new official website had opened, so she needed to check reactions there, as well as the comments on the broadcaster’s streaming platform.
‘Wow, fifteen thousand people are watching.’
Crunching on snacks, Jihyun watched the rapidly scrolling chat window with satisfaction.
The fact that fifteen thousand people were watching even on a private internet streaming site clearly showed just how impactful the first episode had been.
As she calmly waited for the broadcast, the MC appeared and the show began.
The second day opened with cute scenes of the contestants living in the dorms.
In a way, this was something Jihyun had been looking forward to even more than the competition itself.
‘These kinds of moments become fandom-entry points.’
—She’s quiet even in the dorm.
—I don’t mind cynical types like that though.
└That goes beyond cynical; she’s just rude. Didn’t you watch episode 1?
└└Exactly. She acts like she’s some kind of super idol.
└└└But she is good though.
‘It might be a disadvantage for her, depending on who’s watching.’
Jihyun clicked her tongue as she read the rather harsh evaluations about Sehee.
Of course, those opinions were the result of Sehee’s own behavior, and the person herself probably didn’t care about such evaluations at all.
Moreover, because her skills were overwhelmingly strong, there were also reactions saying people became fans despite those traits—or even because of them.
