A Failed Idol’s Rise to Bottom

“I really want to work with you next time, too. If you have a chance, would you like to join me?”

” I’m so honored!”

Su-Gyeom was thrilled by Je-Hyun’s words. Although he was not the main producer this time, he didn’t know when he would plan a new program.So what caught the PD’s eye was always a good phenomenon.

“PD Jae-Hyun, they want you to come here for a second!”

At that moment, the youngest producer called Jae-Hyun. He greeted lightly with his head and disappeared to the place where the production team gathered.

It was not until he was completely invisible that Su-Hyeom jumped from his place.

“Awesome. Awesome. I guess he looked at me favorably.”

He thought ‘Of course he would congratulate me, since I respond so well.’

Lee-Gyeom and Yoo-Chan didn’t say anything.

“What, give me a compliment! I caught the PD’s eyes.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I know,right.”

“Why not?! You should listen.”

“I won’t listen.”

“Me too. ”

Yoo-Chan responded to Lee-Gyeom’s words. It was as if they had planned it.

Su-Gyeom couldn’t understand the two.

It would be great if a rookie idol caught the eyes of a producer of the entertainment industry, but he couldn’t figure out why the two people reacted like this.

Confused Su-Gyeom alternates between the two, and saw their dissatisfied look as if they didn’t really like it.

Su-Gyeom kept tilting his head between the two.

***

Eventually, the courage test failed after what happened to Team A.

Instead, the direction of the broadcast has changed to sit together and eat late-night snacks and tell scary stories.

There were a variety of late-night snacks, ranging from representative menus of late-night snacks such as chicken, pizza, chicken feet, vegetable gopchang, and tteokbokki, to sculptural cakes and cookies that are good to eat as a mouthwash.

Su-Gyeom’s expression brightened up at once when he saw the reward.

“Wow, can I eat all of this? ”

“Sure, go ahead. You can eat it all. ”

When asked, the main producer replied as if it were natural.The members of U-PITE, including the welcoming Su-Gyeom, sat down one by one. In the midst of all this, Su-Gyeom did not miss the center and took the seat in the middle of the table.

Su-Gyeom, who sat down, looked at the logos of the menus. There is a lot of food, but the logo doesn’t stand out, so it didn’t seem to be PPL.

[**PPL stands for product placement. In Korean, it is known as 간접광고 (indirect advertising). The aim is to place a product, brand, or idea strategically in media so it does not seem like blatant advertising.]

Su-Gyeom’s face brightened up even more because he thought he could eat freely without worrying about PPL.

“Now, you can tell us the scary stories you know while eating.”

“Think of it as telling a story to each other and talk comfortably.”

However, Su-Gyeom’s face quickly became dark when the main PD said it. It’s a scary story… How scary should it be to survive the editing? When Su-Gyeom was in deep agony.

“I have that. I’ve seen a ghost in the practice room.” Han-Sol said first.

Surprised, Su-Gyeom opened his eyes wide and looked at Han-Sol. It was the first time he heard it.

“I didn’t tell anyone because I thought I saw it wrong, but it’s the first time I’m saying it…”

“Really? In the practice room?”

“Dance or singing practice room?”

One by one, the members showed interest in Han-Sol’s story. Su-Gyeom also focused on Han-Sol’s story while drinking the prepared strawberry smoothie.

“It was before debut, but I was practicing until dawn. It’s in the dance practice room.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, but I couldn’t dance that day.”

“My condition is really bad. No matter how much I dance, I don’t think I can dance half of what I usually do.”

Han-Sol looked uncomfortable as if he was falling into thought at that time. As if he was scared just to say it, he licked his lips for a while and finally got his rhyme back.

“What the hell is wrong with me? I kept dancing, but there was a dance step where I need to turn around once. So I turned around and looked in the mirror, but two hands were holding me back?”

“Wow…”

“Wow, crazy.”

“Really?”

“Oh, that’s creepy! You couldn’t see it before, but you saw it then?”

Tae-Won, Lee-Gyeom, Yoo-Chan, and Su-Gyeom all gathered their mouths and poured out their thoughts after hearing Han-Sol’s story.

It was a short and thick story.

Su-Gyeom tried to erase the scene in his head and shook his head.

“Oh, I didn’t see it until then. When I turned around, I saw it for a second and it disappeared. So I thought I had seen it wrong, but I remembered that I couldn’t dance that day and my legs were especially heavy, so I packed up and ran away right away.”

Han-Sol trembled as if he was sick and tired of thinking about it again. Su-Gyeom glanced at the production team while looking at Han-Sol. At first glance, the expression of the production team seemed to be half in shock, just like U-PITE, and half were satisfied.

Fortunately, Su-Gyeom was relieved because he thought he would avoid the editing, but this time Tae-Won opened his mouth.

“It’s not my story, but she once told me what she went through.”

“Tae-Ri?”

Tae-Ri was Tae-Won’s real sister. Su-Gyeom also saw her a few times on his way.

Su-Gyeom was more focused on Tae-Won’s story,whiel being conscious of the camera.

“My sister was lying down to sleep, and she heard the clock’s second hand so loud that day. Clack, clack, clack. You know this sound.”

“Oh, I know.”

Su-Gyeom responded to Tae-won’s words and waited for the next part.

“But she didn’t have a watch at her house.”

When Tae-won finished speaking, there was a moment of silence between the members. Then, soon, everyone poured out words that came to mind.

“She doesn’t have a watch?”

“What, then?”

“Is it a ghost?”

“Did the ghost play a joke?”

When asked by the members, Tae-Won nodded slowly.

“I guess it was. Maybe it was a ghost prank.”

“Wow, that’s creepy. Ghosts are working really hard. It even did an impression of the clock.”

At Su-Gyeom’s words, laughter burst out everywhere. There was a strange tension just now, but not only the members but also the production team were laughing.

Su-Gyeom tilted his head because he didn’t understand why they laughed so much because he said it seriously.

“It’s really funny to say that. It’s a great change of perspective.”

Tae-Won said with a dramatic smile. Only then did Su-Gyeom realize why people were laughing.Su-Gyeom was worried that he might have put candles on a scary story, so he looked at the production team’s eyes, and they looked rather bright.

Su-Gyeom, who was relieved only after seeing the scene and then he smiled awkwardly.Since then, the scary stories that they know have continued for a while. Su-Gyeom tried to show various reactions while making as many responses as possible.Of course, in the meantime, he also did not forget to eat late-night snacks.

***

“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s take a break and start filming the abandoned house”

Finally, the shooting was completed in the first round. Su-Gyeom swallowed his dry saliva when the production crew said. His heart fluttered with tension as he was just beside his grandmother he was worried about.

He didn’t even know how the break went.To be honest, it was very cold, but Su-Gyeom was so focused on the abandoned house that he couldn’t even feel it.

“Then we are going in!”

When the production team said that the main shooting would finally begin, Su-Gyeom hit the slate with a determined face.Not only the members but also the filming VJ headed to the abandoned house this time.

The abandoned house in the mountain looked bleak from the outside. When Su-Gyeom saw the scene, he grabbed Lee-Gyeom’s clothes, who was walking ahead of him.

“Go with me. You can’t leave me behind. All right?”

“All right.”

Although it was not said in a friendly way, Su-Gyeom was very relieved to hear Lee-Gyeom’s answer.

All the doors of the abandoned house were ripped open, so there was nothing to open. The members followed Tae-Won to the open place.

There was a particularly cool air from the moment he entered but he was afraid that he would be a nuisance.

Su-Gyeom trembled with the cold that he had never felt outside. Although the door fell off, he didn’t understand how it could feel colder indoors than outside.

There are debris of broken furniture everywhere, as well as fallen leaves believed to have entered through the open door, scattered on the floor.

There was a rustling sound every time he stepped.

“This is the living room, and as you can see, there are a lot of fallen leaves and soil because there is no door on the front door.”

Tae-won continued skillfully as if he had prepared it in advance.

Come to think of it, Tae-Won was a good match for entertainment shows in his previous life. He was simply a natural broadcaster, telling the current situation neatly, being active, and not talking too much.

There were only few opportunities because of the situation in his past life . If the situation was good, he could have succeeded in entertainment industry.

Su-Gyeom was overwhelmed to see him explain the abandoned house. It was because it seemed possible to fix the broadcast at this rate. Of course, it would be possible if the other members do well until the end.

Thank you for JayeBird and Allison too for giving me Ko-Fi and appreciating my hard work. By the way, if anyone is interested in being an editor you can hit me up on discord, I can’t pay wage to anyone but you could read advance chapters. So if you genuinely like the story you could help me there’s some things I could miss by myself.