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Chapter 14

“A sailor uniform?” Yeon-Hoon asked to confirm. He seemed to be full of questions, but when I inspected his face closely, he seemed to not have any resistance towards the idea.

‘Yeon-Hoon seems to be happy about it for now.’ Rather, he seemed strangely excited. On the other hand—

“...Sailor uniform?” Do-Seung let out a murderous aura. He looked like he heard something that shouldn’t have ever been uttered.

Unlike Do-Seung, who let out a chilling air, Woon had a gentle smile on his face. He glanced at Do-Seung and asked me, “Why did you suggest a sailor uniform, Tae-Yoon?”

It was as expected of someone who always asked for a reason first. Dong-Jun also agreed with Woon’s question.

Woon continued, “Usually, you start with the concept first and not the outfit first.”

Everyone must be wondering why I suddenly suggested a sailor uniform out of the blue. However, it was hard to explain the reason to my members. The only good excuse I could make was, “We would look good in a sailor uniform.”

Do-Seung looked at me baffled, as if he couldn’t understand my reasoning at all. He alternately pointed his fingers at himself and me, questioning the idea of whether a sailor uniform would truly fit us. Woon and Dong-Jun looked like they would look pretty good in a sailor uniform, and there was no need to even talk about Yeon-Hoon.

Although Yeon-Hoon would look good in anything with a face like that, he would look even better in refreshing and colorful clothes like a sailor uniform. On the other hand, Do-Seung and I were quite far from the images given off by cutesy sailor uniforms.

I said, “It would look good on you too.” In cases like this, it was better to repeat the same words than to give other semi-plausible reasons.

I added, “Yeon-Hoon would especially look good in it.” This was a good enough reason by my standards, but in the end, this was just my perspective.

Do-Seung said, “So you chose sailor uniforms because they fit well with Yeon-Hoon? For just that reason?”

Of course, Do-Seung was right too, as the reason I gave him might seem trivial and insignificant to him. However, to support my viewpoint, the reason I gave could not be easily dismissed as trivial.

I said, “In our application video, we put Yeon-Hoon at the center. Because of that, I think our group’s image is still centered around him to the viewers as well as the other cast members.”

“So that’s why you want us to go with sailor uniforms?”

“Yes, since Yeon-Hoon looks good in a sailor uniform, I think we should go with a concept that builds on our previous image and leaves a strong impression on the audience’s mind. Since it’s still in the early stages of broadcasting.”

“Hmm.” Do-Seung seemed to finally understand my reasoning, but he seemed a bit worried. I knew what he was worried about. He was worried that we might have to keep fixating on this image after going with a refreshing concept in the beginning.

“Let’s go with a refreshing and bright concept until the next performance and then do something else.” I also had no intention to continue with the same concept.

“...Is that so?” Do-Seung seemed to accept my suggestion after I listed out all my reasons.

However, he seemed a bit disappointed as there must be a concept that he wanted to do. Of course, the concepts that Do-Seung thought of must be good as he had much better artistic sense and ability than me. However, we had to go with a sailor uniform for this stage.

I said, “Just trust me one more time. I’ve done well so far.” This one seemed a bit of a stretch, but I used my last card on the line. I was asking them to believe me using the performances I had shown them so far.

“Pweh. Fine, I got it. Let’s go with a sailor uniform.” Do-Seung also nodded as if it couldn’t be helped.

“Yeah, I like it! It’s a great idea to wear a sailor uniform! Since our group’s name is also Siren!” Yeon-Hoon joined the conversation as soon as the moment arose and lifted the mood.

“Yeah! The Sirens are wearing sailor uniforms!”

“There’s some context behind it.”

“Yeah, it might turn out well.”

I was glad that everyone accepted my suggestion quickly. The only thing left was now—

‘A sailor uniform...’ It was difficult for me to accept it. The fact that I had to wear a sailor uniform...I lamented the cruel reality that forced me to abandon my self-identity as a shut-in novelist for five years and wear a cutesy sailor uniform.

‘But I have to wear it.’ I had to—so that we could avoid that disaster.

* * *

After Siren’s shoot was finished, Kim Min-Young entered the conference room of The Showcase. Producer Park Soo-Chul was inside with a tired face.

“Oh, you’re here?” Park Soo-Chul rubbed his red eyes and asked.

“Eat this and sober up.” It was already approaching dinner time, but Soo-Chul still seemed to have a hangover. Kim Min-Young handed him a hangover relief kit that she bought at a pharmacy on the way.

“Thanks. You’re really the best.” Park Soo-Chul opened the lid of the hangover cure with a skillful hand and swallowed it at once with the pills.

“Ahhh, I’m never going to drink again for real this time.”

Then Min-Young asked, “So how did the talk about the production cost go yesterday?”

“I think the production cost will be approximately covered by showing that company’s drink more than three times per episode.”

“That’s a relief.”

The reason why Park Soo-Chul was dying of hangovers was that he had to go through numerous meetings to cover the production cost of the broadcast. Since The Showcase was such a big project, production costs were always a problem. They needed to have a big budget and get a lot of sponsorships from other companies.

“I should have gone instead of you. Thanks for covering me. Since I also had to take Cho Seung-Woon to the company dinner, you had to take charge of it by yourself, but you did a great job without any directions.” The Cho Seung-Woon that he mentioned was the production team’s maknae producer.

“It’s fine. I would have only used Seung-Woon as the luggage carrier anyway.”

“That’s true.” Park Soo-Chul laughed as he said this and then asked, “So how did it go, the shooting with Siren? You said you didn’t know whether you should cry or laugh because the shooting schedule got fixed in a day.”

“First, we did buy some leisure time in our schedule because we got done with one team before we got really busy.”

“Okay, that’s good. What’s the official report?”

“Hmm.” Kim Min-Young took some time to think before reporting to Park Soo-Chul. She had initially planned to use Siren as mere villains for Only One. Furthermore, she had planned to use them as a way to maximize the tear-jerking concept of struggling idols, which was the main identity of The Showcase’s second season.

She had planned to just add in Siren’s dorm or practice room with a lot of effects whenever the program’s concept was getting loose. Since they were idols who hadn’t debuted yet, they could edit them however they wanted. However, after seeing them directly, they were much better than expected.

Min-Young said, “To be honest, it’s a waste to use them as flat villains or for tear-jerking scenes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I thought they just had good looks, but they were skilled as well.”

“But they’re in a strange company like WD?”

“Well, they must have their reasons. After researching a bit, it seems as if their head manager changed once before, and I think things were pretty good before that.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Yes, but most importantly—,” Kim Min-Young was about to say Yeon-Hoon’s singing was mind-blowing, but it seemed like she was going too overboard, so she closed her mouth.

Park Soo-Chul asked again, “Most importantly, what?”

“That, uh, they have a good bond.”

“What?”

“No, they seem like real brothers, so it was nice to see.”

“What, that’s it?”

“What do you mean?” Min-Young pretended to be ignorant.

“Then why did you smile while talking?”

“When did I smile?”

“You just cracked a smile while talking.”

Kim Min-Young looked at the corners of her mouth and as he said, the corners of her mouth were lifted upwards. She muttered, “That’s crazy.”

“Hahaha!” Soo-Chul burst out into laughter, and Min-Young frowned.

He said, “It’s making me curious what kind of kids they are. They must be great to earn your approval.”

To Soo-Chull Min-Young’s smile just now was a more important indicator for determining the quality of Siren’s potential than any of the words that Min-Young had said before. Like this, time flew by until the day of the first shooting.

* * *

Today was the official first day of filming for <The Showcase 2-First Chance>.

‘I’m burned out.’ Our lives were so hectic that I couldn’t even remember how the last 10 days went by. Since nothing was set besides wearing a sailor uniform, there was a truckload of things we needed to consider and plan. We literally had to create something out of nothing. We needed to find the song to cover, make the choreography, and consider the outfits and other details, and pay for them.

Fundamentally, we needed to get money from the agency, as these were areas that we couldn’t pay with our own money as it was not a couple of pennies or two. As a result of Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna going to Yoon Tae-Hyung and asking him for a company card, they were finally able to receive a budget after a long period of struggle. Of course, the budget was too tight for us to do anything significant, but we got at least a bit of money.

‘We at least can take care of a few things.’ With that money, we matched our outfits and bought a navy sailor uniform that was within our budget that didn’t look as cheap as possible. Everyone else probably had a stylist to style them, but we had to do the fitting for each other. And currently—

“Are we really going to the salon?”

“Wow.”

“But doesn’t WD not have the funds?”

We were heading to the salon for the first shooting. It was very difficult for us to make an appointment at this salon as well, as there were almost no salons that we could go to with our budget. It was impossible to get our hair and makeup done at a salon with our current budget. Rather, it would be faster to search for a low-cost professional willing to provide services within our budget.

However, the problem was whether there was a professional ready to provide early morning services with such a pitiful amount. It was at that moment, Lee Hyuna of WD Entertainment showed her network. She said her cousin ran a small salon somewhere in Gangbuk and called her and eventually made all of this possible.

Although it was not a salon where celebrities went, we could leave our hair and makeup in the hands of professionals, and then go to the shoot with peace of mind. Today’s shooting started at 9 a.m. However, we had to wake up at dawn because the filming location was at a studio in Gyeonggi-do, and we had to do our hair and makeup.

Despite waking up at the crack of dawn, the atmosphere of our group was cheery and bright. Since we had finally found a salon to go after overcoming all kinds of impossible hurdles, we felt elated.

When we came down to the first floor of our apartment, a van was waiting for us. The person behind the wheel was Yoon Seung-Yeon from the design team of WD Entertainment.

Seung-Yeon shouted, “Everyone, get in!”

“Everyone, great job for waking up so early in the morning!” Lee Hyuna from the management support team was in the passenger seat.

“Wow, it’s really a van.”

“So cool.”

“It feels like we’re famous.”

We all boarded the vehicle. This vehicle had also been dragged out after being neglected in the company’s parking lot for a long time. Although we had nothing until ten days ago...

‘Now, we look pretty much the part.’ From going to a salon to the outfit and van, it looked like we were part of the entertainment business now.

Seung-Yeon shouted, “Here we go!”

We headed straight to Hyuna’s cousin’s salon in Gangbuk.

“Oh my~ Hello! You’re trainees from Hyuna’s company, right?” The salon that we arrived at was not as small as we thought. Rather, it was such a large place I wondered why it was so huge. Although it didn’t do celebrity hair and makeup, it seemed as if this hair salon was famous for being good at styling hair in the neighborhood and unlike small neighborhood salons, it even had a separate makeup artist.

After getting our hair and make-up done and putting on our outfits, we headed to the studio at Gyeonggi-do.

On our way to the studio, Yeon-Hoon spoke in a serious voice to boost our morale. “We can do a good job, right guys?” He also said, “You guys remember our team greeting, right?”

We even made a separate team greeting in the last 10 days.

“We all learned it so don’t worry.”

“We’ll be able to do a great job today, so don’t be nervous, Yeon-Hoon.”

“We practiced a lot so all we have to do is go and enjoy ourselves. Yeon-Hoon, you look really cool today.”

Although Yeon-Hoon had spoken first out of concern for the group, he received everyone’s encouragement and support instead.

“Uh, yeah! That’s right! I look really cool today!” However, Yeon-Hoon didn’t think of it as strange and just smiled brightly.

I looked out the window, ‘It finally starts today.’

We had gone through all kinds of hardships and trials to prepare for the past 10 days, and now, it was starting all over again. Although there was no stage that was not important, the first performance that we prepared was especially important.

‘We need to completely turn the table over at least once.’ We needed to flip the board that the production team had already set. I looked out the window alone with a heart twice as solemn as the others. After riding in the car for about an hour, we finally arrived in front of the studio where the shooting will take place today.

“Okay! We’ve arrived!”

“Argh!”

“My body is so stiff!”

“Let’s get off.” We came out of the car in our long padded jackets. And what we came across as soon as we came out was—

“What?” It was Only One’s van.