Idol Hides His Military Service

"Are you out of your mind, Lee Sion?"

"You said you couldn’t do things like that!!!"

"Captain, what the hell did Producer Park Taesu do to you?! Are you really our captain? You didn’t get swapped out or something, did you?"

Hm.

The moment I got back to the waiting room, I heard the familiar voices of my haters.

"Cheer for me louder."

I spread both arms wide and savored the losers’ wailing.

"This is me."

Shoulders lifted as high as they could go.

Do you know when Legend of Valley is the most fun?

It’s when you run into someone who was on your team last match as your opponent the very next match.

Of course, if you lose, that day becomes so infuriating you can’t even fall asleep, but on a day you win, you can get a dopamine rush that’s on par with hitting first prize in the lottery.

If it was to show those traitors who betrayed me and chose a different concept what’s what, I could even sell my soul to the devil···.

'That’s a joke.'

Before I knew it, Yunkyungmon and Shinyu had come over next to me, kneading my shoulders and making a huge fuss about how they’d believed I’d do well, so I glanced at them.

These two had each chosen the Girl Crush Pop and Hip Hop concepts and gone on stage first.

And besides them, there was even Lee Gahyun right next to me, still grumbling about why I hadn’t done that when I was with them.

'I can’t show these guys an uncool side of me.'

They were former teammates who’d shown shockingly cool stages.

In front of these guys who’d put on such cool stages, it was something I absolutely couldn’t allow for me—who’d said I was worried without them—to show a lacking side.

Because a soldier, and especially a company commander, has to die before she lets go of her pride.

Still,

'I got a little hyped and went overboard without realizing it.'

To be honest, that ending scene everyone else was talking about right now wasn’t something I did on purpose.

Even now, I couldn’t remember the last part of the stage well.

It was like, seeing people cheering after watching our team’s stage made my body move on its own.

When I came to my senses, it felt like I’d done something, but I couldn’t remember it—a very subtle situation. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Here’s a towel."

"Thank you."

Anyway, because I threw the umbrella away at the end and got rained on, my hair and outfit were soaked through.

"They’re not going to tell us to pay for this, right?"

"Sion, Representative Park Taesu isn’t that petty!"

"Or maybe he is."

The staff handed us towels, so I wiped the water off roughly with one, then sat down on a waiting-room chair.

'Hoo···this is more tiring than I thought.'

This time there wasn’t any particularly intense choreography, so I thought it would be easier, but it wasn’t.

Was it because there were so many little things I had to pay close attention to?

I felt unexpectedly tired.

"Why did you throw the umbrella?"

Just as I sat down and tried to lean my back against the chair to rest, Yoon Jaei came trotting over and asked.

"Performance."

"What if you catch a cold! When you threw yours, we all threw ours too!"

"It’s fine, Jaei. You won’t catch a cold."

"What?"

No matter what, it felt a bit much to say “idiots don’t catch colds” in front of her, so I muted the rest.

Even though I said that, looking at Jaei and the other members who were soaked through made me feel a little guilty.

-The stage idea using water is really good, but instead the choreography difficulty is going to go up. First, let’s change your shoes to thick-soled sneakers so you don’t slip.

Because of my opinion that our team’s stage didn’t have impact, we added a new performance to the second verse.

That was the rain and the umbrellas.

'The song title is Starlight Umbrella, after all.'

The idea started from my suggestion that if rain came down on the stage and we used umbrellas while we danced, and if we kicked the streams of water pooled on the floor with our feet, our choreography would look even more dynamic.

Thankfully, Producer Park Taesu and the production staff both readily allowed it, so there was no problem preparing the stage.

In Park Taesu’s case, he even made the umbrellas we’d use on stage.

But even though the stage was originally supposed to end with us holding umbrellas, because I threw mine, our teammates ended up soaked through.

"It’s fine. Honestly, I think it was better when you improvised and changed it."

"Yeah. When you threw the umbrella, our hands moved on their own too."

Thankfully, the members matched my sudden action and made it look like a planned performance, so we were able to finish the stage well.

"Lee Sion, is that something you made?"

"Huh? What?"

"The umbrella choreography. You didn’t show it at the final check."

"Ah···back then the umbrellas weren’t out yet, so we just did the original version. Anyway, it’s not really like I ‘made’ it. I only threw out the idea."

While we were talking about the stage for a bit like that, Ryu Ayeon suddenly came over next to me and started asking me questions about the stage.

Then, after hearing my answers, Ryu Ayeon went back to her seat with a noticeably serious expression, like she was thinking about something.

And right around the time I got a deeply unpleasant, almost certain premonition that the way Ryu Ayeon and Sluggish Ryujin were whispering had to be about me—

"Sion!!!"

"Sleepy Suyeon!!! You made it back alive!"

"Did I go out to a battlefield or something?!"

The people who’d gone out for the on-site stage came back to the waiting room.

***

Hoo···.

MPlay broadcasting station.

Right in front of the waiting room door for the Idol Ground 100 participants, Suyeon was taking deep breaths to calm her trembling heart.

-Waaaaaaah!!!

Suyeon had gone to a basketball arena in Goyang today with the members of Group B for the Girlish Pop concept.

'I didn’t know there was a place like that near our dorm.'

After doing a performance during halftime in the middle of a game, Suyeon’s heart was still pounding.

And that was because—

-What if people don’t react to us at all?

-I’m going insane···the people here are here to watch a basketball game···.

-If there’s no reaction, that’s fine. What if they curse at us?

Before going on stage, Suyeon and the Group B members had been extremely tense because they didn’t know what the crowd’s reaction would be.

It was definitely something to be grateful for that Group B, who had lost the chance to go up on the main stage, were given a new opportunity, but performing in a situation where you didn’t know what kind of reaction would come back was never easy.

But,

-Wow! Aren’t they the girls from Idol Ground 100?

-That’s insane! They’re coming out for a halftime performance?

-The game was boring as hell so I was about to get pissed, but I’m glad I came today!

Surprisingly, the crowd’s reaction was very good.

In particular, among the audience, there were even people who recognized Suyeon and shouted Suyeon’s name during the stage.

Hearing that sound, Suyeon gained confidence and successfully showed the stage she’d prepared.

After finishing the stage, Suyeon breathed out hard and looked at the audience cheering for her and her teammates, and she’d thought:

'Was Sion always looking at scenery like this?'

In truth, Suyeon always doubted whether she was really someone who suited being an idol.

An individual trainee.

After failing to make the debut team at her previous agency, Suyeon had no choice but to leave the company in a half-forced way.

Because once a company debuts one girl group, in order to debut the next group, it has to be at least three or four years later.

At that time, Suyeon had been seriously thinking about whether she should keep dreaming of being an idol and go to another agency, or give up, when she received a phone call.

-Kim Suyeon, is this you? I’m PD Kim Miyoung from MPlay, and we’re doing an idol survival program···.

She said she’d gotten Suyeon’s number from the development team lead at Suyeon’s former agency, and asked whether Suyeon wanted to participate in Idol Ground 100—Kim Miyoung’s call, who had now left the program.

Thinking it was truly the last chance given to her, Suyeon appeared on Idol Ground 100.

After that, Suyeon was clearly doing well in objective results.

Since she was still surviving up to now in Idol Ground 100, where fifty out of a hundred had already been eliminated.

But,

-How long is Lee Sion going to keep dragging Kim Suyeon around?

-Honestly it’s so obvious Kim Suyeon is following Lee Sion just to secure airtime

-She’s going to get eliminated soon anyway

Suyeon had been shocked after seeing posts like that when she searched her own name during the last break.

Of course, Suyeon had absolutely no such intention, but there were quite a lot of posts in the world that looked down on Suyeon, saying she was following Lee Sion around and picking up scraps.

And Suyeon also thought that wasn’t completely false.

Because if Sion wasn’t there, Suyeon couldn’t be sure she would’ve been able to survive until now.

In reality, Suyeon had gotten bad results in the live stage and the position evaluation battle where she’d been separated from Sion, so those words bothered her even more.

But now it wasn’t like that.

Because Suyeon had confirmed with her own eyes today that there were also people who cheered for her and recognized her, and she’d gone out and shown the best stage she could in front of those people.

'Now it’s okay.'

With her heart now lighter, Suyeon opened the waiting room door.

And,

"As expected, our Sleepy Suyeon! You did great."

"···Really?"

"I believed in you, Suyeon."

Lee Sion welcomed her return and patted her head.

Suyeon felt like she could look straight at Lee Sion’s face proudly.

***

"We raised a tiger cub."

Ayeon unknowingly nodded at Sluggish Ryujin’s lament.

'No way she learned making choreography for a moment back then and made a performance like that.'

On the bus back to the dorm, Lee Sion was so full of energy that she was excitedly chattering, with Im Yunkyung and Geum Shinyu sitting in a line right next to Lee Sion.

Watching the three of them, Ayeon let out a hollow laugh.

Clearly, earlier, right after finishing the stage, when they were in the waiting room, Lee Sion had sprawled out in a chair and said, “Ah, I’m tired.”

But now, whether she’d recovered her stamina, she was chattering energetically.

At this point, it wasn’t even surprising anymore.

"What, why are you grinning?"

But maybe Ayeon’s hollow-laughing expression while looking at Lee Sion felt awkward, because Sluggish Ryujin, sitting next to her, asked with an uncomfortable expression.

"Just because."

In truth, Ayeon had been a little confident about this stage.

Because during the previous position evaluation, she’d met good teammates, including Lee Sion, and she’d gotten some sense of how she should make stages going forward.

And how she should cooperate with teammates.

-Guys, I know it’s hard, but do you want to try one more time?

It wasn’t forcing her opinion, but matching along, and the Girl Crush Pop concept teammates were surprised enough to be startled at that side of her.

And because of that, the Girl Crush Pop concept team’s stage could be completed to a level that even Ayeon herself could be satisfied with.

-Good work, guys. You did enough well.

Tenji, the producer of the Girl Crush Pop concept, even praised the team’s stage for the first time.

'He didn’t do it even once the whole time we were practicing.'

As befits SY, known as the strictest in training trainees even among the Big Three agencies, throughout the entire concept mission training, Ayeon and her teammates heard only feedback rather than praise from Tenji.

Of course, because of that, Ayeon could improve even more.

At some point, she hadn’t been pointed out for her skills, but after a long time, hearing sharp feedback that ruthlessly picked at Ayeon’s shortcomings was something she liked, in a way.

Still,

-The first place team in today’s concept mission evaluation stage on-site vote is···the Girlish Pop concept’s Starlight Umbrella team!!!

Ayeon took final second place in this concept evaluation stage.

'In the past, I would’ve been mad.'

If it were the old Ayeon, after hearing the stage ranking announcement earlier, she probably would’ve been so mad that even now she’d be grinding her teeth inside and showing it all over her face.

But now, she didn’t really feel bad.

Not getting first was a shame, but that was only because it weighed on her that she couldn’t give first place to the teammates who’d worked together for the last two weeks to make the stage.

Ayeon herself was even relieved.

Was it because she’d shown the best and maximum she could do, so she had no lingering regret?

Suddenly, Ayeon remembered something Lee Sion had said before.

-There’s a saying called “Do your best and leave it to heaven.” Do you know Zhuge Liang? You probably do. If you don’t know that person—no, if you don’t know that great person, I’ll have no choice but to downgrade my evaluation of you by about 124 levels···.

Because she’d thrown out all kinds of miscellaneous talk, she said the important thing later, but what Lee Sion ultimately meant was that what you can do and what heaven decides are separate.

So there was no need to be overly obsessed with the result.

At the time, Ayeon thought it was something someone with an easy life would say, but looking back now, it seemed partly right.

Ayeon did her best for this stage, and if the result was second place, that was a result worth accepting.

More than anything,

"What, why are you looking at me with that Lee Sion-like gaze again?"

"Mm···."

"Seriously, I told you not to follow that!"

"Sluggish Ryujin, do you know what comes after the number two?"

"What?"

At Ayeon’s question, Sluggish Ryujin looked dumbfounded, like what kind of out-of-nowhere nonsense was this.

But then Sluggish Ryujin’s expression started to redden.

"It’s a one-stroke difference, but it’s a pretty big difference. At the Olympics, after the gold medal, next is the silver medal and the bronze medal, right?"

"···."

"But even between the silver medal and the bronze medal, there’s a big difference. Just like there are people who collect silver, but there are no people who collect copper."

"Y-You crazy bitch?!"

"Don’t use such strong words."

-You look weak.

The moment she spat out the last line, Ayeon was grabbed and her back was pounded by Sluggish Ryujin’s hand that flew in like a flash.

Sluggish Ryujin’s palm made a sharp sound, like it had quite a lot of force in ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ it.

But Ayeon didn’t even scream.

'Because it’s a third-place hand.'

Ayeon was someone who had never forgotten what Sluggish Ryujin said during the last group battle mission evaluation, when Sluggish Ryujin told Lee Sion that Ayeon would lose to her.

***

"Now I understand. Your level. You losers, thinking about going out to play during your break···it’s so boring I want to die."

At my words, Sluggish Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon’s expressions hardened at the same time.

"I’m on the right, you’re on the left?"

"Should we call Gahyun too? That one’s strong, so it’s safer if three of us handle it."

How ugly can losers’ jealousy be?

I only spoke facts, but looking at second place and third place trying to attack me, I quickly hid behind Yunkyung.

"The moment you touch me and end up touching Yunkyung, you might get dragged off somewhere."

"How does the captain seriously use me as a shield?"

"There isn’t a shield with better specs than you in Korea."

After finishing the stage, the Idol Ground 100 participants, including me, returned to the dorm.

Normally, it should’ve been the time for the third ranking announcement ceremony, but—

-This Idol Ground 100 third ranking announcement ceremony will be held one week later, after the viewers’ on-site stage online vote tally is complete.

At the production staff’s words that the ranking announcement ceremony would be pushed back, and there would be a one-week break, the participants were excited.

Of course, Sluggish Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon were also excited about the suddenly granted one-week rest time, chattering about what they were going to do outside, so—

I got worried they’d completely let their guard down, so I provoked them a little, and they didn’t even know to be grateful, trying to attack me instead.

"That’s enough. Let’s hurry back to the dorm and pack. If not, the break will only get delayed."

"Yep! You heard her, right? Let’s hurry up and go pack!"

Just as Lee Gahyun stepped in as the older one, smoothing things over and trying to move the kids toward the dorm,

"Contestant Lee Sion, please come to the meeting room right now!"

I heard a staff member’s voice urgently looking for me.