Idol Hides His Military Service

"The A and B teams chose the dreamlike‧mystical concept song ‘The Moon and Your Shadow’. So, how do you think the results of these two teams turned out?"

At the words of Jang Junseok, who was in charge of MC duties on the gorgeously decorated stage, the audience’s gazes began to focus.

And the members of ‘The Moon and Your Shadow’ A and B teams, lined up to either side of that Jang Junseok, were standing hand in hand, eyes tightly shut as they waited for the announcement.

‘This is exactly why I didn’t want to do this···.’

Sitting at the judges’ table, Hyeryeong watched the scene and did not feel good.

No matter how good a stage you put on, in the end it was still a competition.

She had accepted the position of judge knowing that, in a survival program, one of the two teams had to accept the result of defeat.

Even so, every time she saw contestants, who could be called her juniors, crying or laughing over the outcome of a single stage, there was an indescribable emotion that surged up in her and could not be helped.

"Wow!!! Yoo Jihae is the best!"

"Please, let B team win!!"

"Let’s debut, you guys!!"

In contrast to how she felt, the audience filling the stands were simply fired up as if they found it all thrilling, wanting the team they were cheering for, or the team they thought did better, to win.

‘Is this why it’s popular?’

A line someone had once said floated up in Hyeryeong’s mind.

– Life is a comedy when seen in long-shot and a tragedy when seen in close-up.

The words of Charlie Chaplin, who had been a famous American comedian.

To Hyeryeong, that single line, containing the life of a man who had lived his whole life trying to make audiences laugh on stage or on screen, felt so very similar to this program.

The contestants were so nervous and exhausted it dried their blood, but the people watching them, the audience and viewers, were in an indescribably joyful, ironic situation.

Thinking this too was something like a fated ordeal to become that existence called an idol, Hyeryeong steadied her heart once more so she could judge coolly again.

"The winner is··· The Moon and Your Shadow B team!!!"

Waaaaaah!

From the audience seats, half cheers and half groans spread out.

At the same time, of the two teams on stage, one team shouted in triumph as they embraced one another, and the other had to leave the stage with their heads bowed, shedding tears.

"Today’s Group Battle Mission··· at last, only the two teams of the final song remain."

As that stage wrapped up and preparations for the next one were being made, Jang Junseok spoke at an easy pace, holding the audience’s attention on the stage.

"The winning team takes a benefit of a full 5,000 votes, and the losing team goes home with nothing at all in this Group Battle Mission."

It was, in the truest sense, Winner takes all.

The results of this Group Battle Mission were not only divided into victory and defeat, but a brutal match that separated survival and elimination.

All the more so because they were competing with the same song, which made it even more cruel for the losing team, as there was not even any room for excuses.

"Now then, everyone, please greet the two teams who will decorate the finale of this competition with a big round of applause!!!"

At some point, the clearing of the stage must have finished, because Jang Junseok announced the entrance of the final teams.

And at the same time, ten contestants walked out through the entrances set up at the far left and right ends of the stage.

"Lee Sion! Lee Sion!"

"Waaaaa!!! Lee Sion, I love you!!!"

"Lee Sion, I came to see you!!!"

And even though ten contestants had come out, in the audience only a single person’s name rang out.

‘She really has become a complete star now, hasn’t she?’

Hyeryeong had expected a reaction like this, but she was slightly surprised that it was even more intense than she had thought.

‘Honestly, I almost died laughing the whole time I was watching too, but just when on earth did that kid go around doing stuff like that?’

Just two days ago, on Friday evening, Hyeryeong had watched Idol Ground 100 Episode 2 live as it broadcast, and she remembered cackling foolishly on the sofa because of Lee Sion, whose performance had been so prominent you could practically call it the Lee Sion Show.

In fact, the only times Hyeryeong met Lee Sion and the other contestants were during training and evaluations, so she didn’t know how they usually lived.

So, the things Lee Sion got up to at the dorm, she had found even more entertaining because she was seeing them for the first time just like any other viewer.

‘That’s why the team with Lee Sion in it had such strangely good chemistry.’

Lee Sion looked easygoing enough that anyone could approach her without difficulty, but somehow, when it mattered, she also looked reliable.

How exactly those two things could coexist, even Hyeryeong couldn’t understand.

What mattered was that because someone like that was there, the team came together as one.

"The boy group Boyvicious’ song ‘Lucid Dive’ is famous for its uniquely refreshing yet dreamlike and also mystical atmosphere. We’re very much looking forward to seeing what kind of Lucid Dive these two teams will present."

At Jang Junseok’s explanation, Lee Sion’s Lucid Dive A team, which had been positioned to the left, exited again through the entrance, leaving only B team on stage.

"Hello! We are Lucid Dive B team. I’m Park Soyeon, and I’m the leader···."

After that, B team’s contestants, starting with Park Soyeon, each introduced themselves and began getting ready to perform.

A quiet night comes down

When I close my eyes I see you

In that sparkling smile

My heart sinks down again

As she watched B team’s stage, which had finally begun, Hyeryeong found herself nodding her head to the rhythm without realizing it.

‘It’s better than I thought. As the team leader, Park Soyeon chose her members well.’

The main of the stage was still centered on Park Soyeon, but as someone who had at least received an A grade, she was handling the stage well enough that there was no particular point to nitpick.

On top of that, whether she had thought from the start to add even more purity to the concept when she first chose this song or not, the other team members besides Park Soyeon also had images that matched the arrangement very well, to the point it almost felt like this had been the song’s vibe from the beginning.

If she had to pick something regrettable, it was that the members other than Park Soyeon felt just like decorations for the stage?

While Hyeryeong was organizing her thoughts as she watched B team’s stage, before she knew it B team’s stage had already come to an end.

The judges immediately gave their evaluations.

"You worked hard. First of all, it was a stage where you could feel that you had added purity to the original concept to make it stable. The balance between the members was a little disappointing, but it was a good stage."

"I also felt it was stable ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) when I focused on the choreography. Should I say it was good that you had precisely grasped your own limits so that the stage wouldn’t end up looking lame?"

As the producer Ahn Seongho and choreographer Lee Jungyoon’s evaluations continued, it was now Hyeryeong’s turn to judge.

"First of all, it was a model stage. You preserved the original song while adding a concept that fit the original well, and that concept suited B team’s contestants too."

"···Thank you!"

Maybe because the judges’ comments weren’t bad and it reminded them of the training period they had struggled through?

B team’s members all answered in voices so earnest it sounded like they might burst into tears.

"But conversely, as the other judges said, there were some disappointing parts from a balance standpoint, so I hope each of you fixes those parts by the time of your next stage."

"···Yes."

In truth, if she had wanted to, she could have nitpicked more bad points.

‘Let’s leave personal feelings out of it. Honestly, this stage was highly complete.’

Separately from the fact that she had not thought well of Park Soyeon, this was a stage that showed why a classic is a classic, so it was right to evaluate it positively.

Innocent‧dreamlike.

B team’s stage, which had harmonized those two concepts and turned Lucid Dive, originally a boy group’s song, into something that fit a girl group like this, was one of the stages in today’s Group Battle Mission that deserved a high score.

If she had to name teams that had been better than this one, only three to four teams, including Seo Ryujin’s team, came to mind, so it was a stage that was fully worthy of being in the upper ranks.

"The judges’ scores have been revealed! Lucid Dive B team’s stage received very high scores of 87, 88, and 86 points respectively. Will A team be able to surpass this score?"

With an average score of 87 points, Lucid Dive B team’s stage was currently ranked fifth among the Group Battle Mission teams.

There could be changes once the audience vote scores were included, but even so, it was a high rank, so for A team to surpass it, their stage would have to come within today’s TOP 3.

"Hello. We are Lucid Dive A team!"

As B team, who had gone on first, exited the stage, Lucid Dive A team entered in time with that.

‘Their outfit concept really is all over the place.’

What caught Hyeryeong’s eye as she watched A team giving a bold greeting to the audience and judges was the stage outfits the members were wearing.

In the center of the stage, Lee Gahyeon was wearing a reworked soccer club uniform, and Kim Suyeon was in a clean white dress shirt with a vest.

Besides that, Geum Shinyu had made use of a knit and glasses, and the team leader Im Yunkyung was wearing a boys’ school uniform.

‘Just these four alone stand out plenty, but··· that outfit on Lee Sion is really something else···.’

The finishing stroke on this set of outfits that didn’t have a shred of uniformity was Lee Sion.

Epaulettes embroidered in gold thread attached to both shoulders of the jacket.

It didn’t stop there; the patterns embroidered in flashy gold on the jacket were extremely ornate.

It was the kind of extravagant outfit you might expect the main character of a romance fantasy comic to wear.

On top of that, with white pants and boots, she was practically a fairy-tale prince brought to life.

‘It’s even more amazing that she somehow pulled that off.’

If someone had handed that outfit to Hyeryeong, she would have considered cutting off relations with that person on the spot.

The funny thing was that somehow, in its own way, it actually suited Lee Sion.

"A team’s stage will begin right now!"

As she was briefly lost in her thoughts while looking at A team’s outfits, at Jang Junseok’s cue, Hyeryeong focused again to evaluate the stage.

A quiet night comes down

When you close your eyes you see me

In the smile that looks at you

Your heart sinks down again

At last A team’s stage began.

It started with the center, Lee Gahyeon, walking forward to the front of the stage like a model and singing the intro.

"Wow, Lee Gahyeon looks really pretty when you see her like this."

"More than that, the intro is completely different from B team’s just now."

"Yeah! This is, how should I put it? It feels stickier?"

Listening to the reactions of the audience coming from behind, Hyeryeong nodded.

Unlike B team, A team had completely reinterpreted the original song, chosen the concept of sexy‧dreamlike, and in line with that had changed the choreography, vocals, and even lyrics, so of course it felt different.

At the faintly brushing touch of my scent

Hold your breath and follow me

In my dazzling gaze

You fall in

Once Lee Gahyeon finished her part and stepped back, this time Kim Suyeon surged forward and carried the stage onward with even more intense choreography and vocals.

"Waaaaa!!!!"

And when, in the middle of the choreography, Suyeon undid one of the buttons on her shirt with a languid expression, cheers exploded from the audience.

‘Clever. She somehow knows exactly how much girl fans like this kind of thing.’

Hyeryeong could immediately tell that the performance Suyeon had just put on was extremely calculated.

Ordinary people usually thought that most of a girl group’s fans would be men, but in reality it was the exact opposite.

For boy groups and girl groups both, the fandom’s main force was always women.

So Suyeon’s judgment in calculating and inserting a performance that women would like was excellent.

Even now, the reaction in the audience to this short performance Suyeon had shown was extremely good.

Beyond the shining waves

I reached out my hand to you

Is this a dream or is it real

My heartbeat gets faster

Following after Suyeon, who had set the mood like that, Geum Shinyu and Im Yunkyung appeared, and, like a sports dance couple, they danced together while splitting the part between them.

Geum Shinyu’s low notes and Im Yunkyung’s high notes blended more aptly than expected, creating a pleasing harmony.

‘It really is a stage put together attractively.’

It was a good stage.

Individually, their skills were lacking, but they were covering each other’s weaknesses and harmonizing as a single team.

‘If it ended like this, it would of course be a bit of a shame, though.’

Up to this point, it was a stage where she could catch glimpses of efforts matching the concept and bringing that concept to life, but if it ended here, there was a possibility that, to the audience if not the judges, it would be perceived as merely a somewhat unusual stage.

But Hyeryeong was not worried about that.

Lucid dive, I’ll take you

To you inside that deep dream

At this moment when time has stopped

I’ll stay here with you

When Lee Sion, who had been thoroughly backing up the other members from behind all the way to the ending part of the stage, appeared, cheers burst from the audience again.

‘Just when did her vocal skills improve that much.’

Now, even compared to the main vocals of other teams, her ability was not lacking at all, and when you added the tone that had always been good, Lee Sion was capturing people with vocals alone.

Lucid dive, close both eyes

Until I reach your arms

And when the song reached its ending part, the other team members began to gather in a circle with Lee Sion in the center.

Once the formation was complete,

Thud.

First, Lee Gahyeon fell straight backward as if sinking into deep water, and then the other members, in turn, presented a performance of falling backward.

Now the only one left was Lee Sion, standing alone in the center.

Thump.

The music briefly stopped, and Lee Sion walked past the members lying on the stage and strode straight toward the audience.

"What the··· she’s coming over to our side?"

"This is crazy! She’s even prettier up close!"

"If she comes any closer I think I’m going to scream."

On the side of the audience that Lee Sion was approaching, the murmuring only grew louder.

At last, Lee Sion arrived in front of the audience.

Even when you wake you won’t forget

Into this night, dive

In time with that, the music started again and, matching the music, Lee Sion calmly sang the final part of the song.

She went down on one knee toward the audience and held out her hand.