Chapter 46: Second Mission, First Pressure

[Please Take Care of My Idol 1st Live Ranking Announcement Results]

[1st Place Yeo Hyun-tae
2nd Place Lee Chan-seo
3rd Place Nam Jin-wook
4th Place Yoon Ji-heon
5th Place Seo Jun-jae
6th Place Park Kang-hoon
7th Place Kim Woo-hyun
8th Place Lee Woo-rim
9th Place Sim Jae-seo
10th Place Kwak Jun-sung
11th Place Kim Jae-ho
12th Place Chae Han-ul
13th Place Rohan
14th Place Na Yoon-jae
15th Place Kang Eun-hyuk
16th Place Park Seo-hu
…]

[Comments]

Yeo Hyun-tae 1st place!!!!!

↳ Look everyone, strike up the band!!!!

↳↳ Yeah!!!!

Glad Yoon Ji-heon and Seo Jun-jae rose a bit

↳ Ji-heon and Jun-jae absolutely have to be in the debut groupㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Chan-seo, congrats on 2nd place~~~

Holy crap, is Park Seo-hu going to rise?

↳ What if he actually becomes the debut group’s main vocalㅠㅠ

Jae-seo, please maintain your rank!!

↳ No!! Rise up!!

Woo-rim finally in the rankingsㅠㅠ If Lee Woo-rim doesn’t become an idol, who will??ㅠㅠ

Han-ul, just rise a little more!ㅠㅠ

↳ Han-ul was good at first, why is this happeningㅠㅠㅠㅠ

↳↳ He’s never on the broadcast,,

Kwak Jun-sung, debut!

*Guys, voting has started anew! https://kmbs.com/mydolplzseason2/vote/

↳ Thanks for the link, going to vote right away!!

↳ SeoJunJae YeoHyunTae debut

↳ Yoon Ji-heon Seo Jun-jae rise up!!!

…

[Please Take Care of My Idol) They’re accepting votes for the 3rd mission songs!]

[http://tv.navum.com/43156236725]
[Concept Evaluation Song Preview | Please Take Care of My Idol Season 2]

Until May 7th (Sunday)

Up to 12 trainees can be voted for per song (it says you can vote for just one without filling all slots)

1 vote per ID per day
+) Homepage link https://kmbs.com/mydolplzseason2/

[Comments]

Wow this is hard..

↳ They’re all good?

Song number 1 is my taste though

↳ Right, song number 1 is so good lol lol lol lol Performance feels super powerful

↳ This one’s dance will probably be amazing too, the heavy beat underneath is insane

↳↳ Same Kwak Jinwoong, do your jobㅠㅠ

You guys supporting K-Stars, what are you voting for?

↳ *111* no question *111*

↳ Apparently K-Stars supporters everywhere are all voting for 1

↳ The problem is all trainee fans are voting for 1 lol

↳↳ Still, *11* The rest are a bit bland, I want to see something super strong

I’m a Jae-seo one-pick, I’m so torn about what to vote for..

↳ It’s even harder because Jae-seo fans seem split on their votesㅠㅠ

↳↳ From the current vibe, it seems like 3 or 5? one of the two

↳↳↳ Same those two seem the safest, song 1 is good but 59 out of 60 trainee fans want to do it lolㅠㅠ

↳ I just hope it’s absolutely not *24*

↳↳ Me too with *22*ㅠㅠ That one probably won’t happen, the song is too sexy lol lol lol lol

↳↳↳ They already opened fire on July Snow for lacking charisma, if they get number 2 it’s over,,ㅠㅠ

↳↳↳ But in terms of vocals, I really want to hear Jae-seo sing number 2, it would be so goodㅜㅜ

↳↳↳↳ Let’s hold back and ask him to sing it later if he debuts, guys..

↳↳↳↳↳ Crazy lol lol lolㅠㅠ

…

***

“Sim Jae-seo, are you all ready?”

Turning his head at Park Seo-hu’s voice, Park Seo-hu frowned deeply.

…Is it that weird?

The dress rehearsal for the 2nd contest was done, and all preparations for outfit, hair, and makeup were complete.

The makeup was ordinary, and the outfit was a white shirt and black pants with just a bit of lace, so it was plain compared to last time, but the problem was the hair.

The hair stylist had called it ‘wet hair’ and slicked it back with a ton of wax, making it look greasy like he hadn’t washed it in a while, which felt very awkward.

The stylist said it looked good, but maybe it really does look weird to someone who’s not a hair expert?

“Ah, shit, this is annoying.”

At Park Seo-hu’s sudden annoyed muttering, Jae-seo looked at him with eyes asking what his problem was.

Seo-hu abruptly yelled.

“I’m annoyed because of you!

You had to be tall and handsome all by yourself!

You’re the only one visible on stage!”

The praise, which sounded almost like an insult, burst out loudly.

The stylist who had done his hair smiled with satisfaction, saying “See?” proudly, while other staff around them glanced at them and laughed.

Why is he saying this to me, of all people?

I’m not Seo Jun-jae or Yeo Hyun-tae.

He quickly dragged the grumbling Park Seo-hu out of the waiting room.

Suddenly, he felt a stir in the hallway.

Squinting his eyes, he saw Yeo Hyun-tae standing in the distance.

Looking at Hyun-tae, who was styled so much more strikingly than during ‘July Snow’, he was almost mesmerized and pointed at him with his finger.

“That’s what ‘tall and handsome all by yourself’ looks like, I guess.”

Park Seo-hu, following his finger, let out an “Ah” of realization, then glanced at him and muttered grumpily, “Then what’s this?”

Well, I did start it, but honestly, his reaction is excessively honest.

“Hey.”

At the sudden familiar voice from behind, he turned his head to find a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar filling his vision.

Seo Jun-jae, wearing bright-colored contact lenses and with his forehead fully exposed, stood there in black clothes covered in belt-like accessories.

Facing that face and body, Park Seo-hu’s earlier outburst felt even more embarrassing.

At the same time, he totally agreed with what Park Seo-hu had said.

…Seeing someone so perfect is actually annoying.

It was a thousand times fortunate that they weren’t on the same team this time.

Imagining himself dressed and styled like that, standing next to him, was horrifying.

He’d be lucky to just be called a squid this time; he felt incredibly sorry for the participants who ended up on the same team as Seo Jun-jae.

He had been staring blankly with various thoughts for a while, but Seo Jun-jae didn’t even blink.

Instead, he just smiled, curving his eyes downwards as usual.

Even looking like that, with such a flashy style, when he smiled he still looked bright.

Was that amazing or just strange…?

“So?”

At the sudden words, Jae-seo asked back, “What?”

Seo Jun-jae’s lips curled up on one side, and his face slowly started to come closer.

What?

Flinching, he tried to pull back, but suddenly his nape was firmly grabbed by Seo Jun-jae’s hand.

His eyes widened instinctively as he looked at Seo Jun-jae, and soon a small laugh burst near his cheek.

Holding his nape, Seo Jun-jae bent over and laughed uncharacteristically, then straightened up and cleared his throat.

“Think you can go and win?”

…Ah, that?

He raised his hand and removed Seo Jun-jae’s arm from his neck, then nodded.

Of course.

When he spoke with a confident voice, Seo Jun-jae laughed quietly and nodded back.

“Then I’ll wait.”

***

After the camera rehearsal and final checks were all done, the recording soon began.

As Son Chae-i appeared on the stage visible on the screen, the audience started screaming like crazy.

While Son Chae-i was greeting and explaining the 2nd contest, a staff member called their team out.

Going to the studio and waiting, he kept his eyes closed, trying to maintain his focus, but something kept tapping at his heel.

Opening his eyes and looking back, Bae Jae-hyung, who had been standing right behind him, suddenly clasped his hands together.

“Ah, did I kick you?

Sorry!

I’m so nervous I keep doing this.”

If that were true, you should have apologized the first time you kicked me.

It was obvious he was deliberately trying to break his concentration.

Saying anything would make him look childish, so he swallowed a sigh, shook his head, and straightened up.

As he closed his eyes to focus again, Jae-hyung kicked him again and this time preemptively whined, “I’m really sorry.”

Just as a sigh of irritation was about to escape, a staff member called their team.

They waited just below the stage, putting on their in-ears, and soon the entrance signal came.

Grabbing their microphones, they climbed the stairs.

Once they were standing in a line on stage, Nam Jin-wook raised his microphone and opened his mouth.

“Hello, we, who want to become precious memories for you all, are—”

“‘Dear’!”

As they shouted the team name together, the audience roared.

Again, he spotted places among the countless spectators holding cheering tools with his name or face and gave a small wave.

“Yes, and what song is your ‘Dear’ team performing today?”

Son Chae-i’s expression as she asked was particularly playful, and even her fans right below the stage tilted their heads in curiosity.

“We have prepared senior Son Chae-i’s ‘A Letter’.”

Only then did Son Chae-i’s fans understand the meaning behind her earlier smile and started screaming like crazy.

When Son Chae-i slyly said it was such a good song, they nearly fell over.

“This is a stage I’m personally very much looking forward to.

Trainee Sim Jae-seo?”

It was the interview they had practiced during the camera rehearsal.

Raising his microphone and answering “Yes,” the audience holding cheering tools related to him thankfully shouted.

“Was there anything you considered most important while preparing today’s stage?”

“Yes, ‘A Letter’ is a song with such beautiful lyrics, so our team thought a lot and worked hard on how we could best convey these beautiful lyrics and emotions to the audience.”

Although it was a prepared answer, it was true to some extent.

Because he had received many criticisms about his facial expressions during ‘July Snow’, he had tried to get as much acting training as possible right up to the 3rd contest.

Also, since this was a vocal position evaluation, he thought emotional delivery was important and really tried hard to immerse himself.

Well, he couldn’t say there was absolutely no ulterior motive in that answer, considering the lyricist of ‘A Letter’ was Son Chae-i herself.

“Haha, the lyrics—whoever wrote them—really resonated with me, they were so good.”

Son Chae-i, openly bursting into laughter, cleared her throat and continued with the questions.

Regarding the question about the center changing mid-way, former center Nam Jin-wook and current center Park Seo-hu answered in turn.

Son Chae-i told both of them she looked forward to a good stage, then paused for a moment before smiling at the camera.

“Yes, then, let’s meet the ‘Dear’ team’s stage of ‘A Letter’ right now!”