LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 59
Chapter 59
The day after the broadcast of the ranking ceremony was the rehearsal day for the second round of Pick Heart.
“You got a good reaction yesterday.”
“Really? Thanks. By the way, where’s Jing Xiao?”
“Why?”
“Well, he said something weird on the broadcast. Who’s the younger brother? I’m older than him by a few years.”
“Isn’t it just one year?”
“Hey, even a one-year difference is huge at my age.”
Each team had to rehearse two to three times, and this time, they even had to set up a separate stage, so we had to wait all day.
During that time, the trainees gathered in the waiting room, either playing on their phones, chatting, or practicing with their team members to pass the time.
“My post made it to the popular posts.”
“So jealous… There are almost no posts about me. I hope at least one good post makes it to the popular list.”
One of the things the trainees paid attention to regarding the broadcast reactions was the “Pick Heart Season 3 Board,” abbreviated as “Pick Three Board” or even shorter as “Pick Board.”
It was one of the communities with strong activity, making it a good place to check broadcast reactions.
However, due to the anonymous nature of the community, a flood of unfiltered comments poured out, making it not very helpful for mental health protection.
Even the users of the site sometimes left comments like, “Guys, don’t come hereㅠㅠㅠㅠ” if they suspected the trainees were reading the community posts.
Instead of talking to someone or practicing dance, I decided to play a game where a jelly avoids obstacles.
I needed to save my energy.
Dei, watching me play the game, said,
“Wow, you must have been doing this all the time. You’re really good at… Oh, you died.”
I made a mistake because I really had been playing only the game after eating.
As I was about to start a new game, Ban Yo-han, who had just finished the dry rehearsal, plopped down next to me and warned me in a slightly tired tone.
“On Raon, you be careful too.”
“Of what?”
“Sasaengs.”
“Sasaengs… Do you mean you have sasaengs following you?!”
I, who was answering absentmindedly, was startled and almost dropped my phone. I barely caught it and faced Ban Yo-han.
“Yeah. Company and dorm. They even went to Gyeol’s school.”
“Wow…”
“I was just going to stay at home, but I decided to stay at the dorm in case they found out my home address. I also changed my number because I kept getting messages and calls yesterday.”
Ban Yo-han said “stupidly…” but then closed his mouth.
He probably thought about saying something like “I shouldn’t have volunteered instead of Kang Ji-woo” but decided against it.
“If you’re not careful, it will keep happening… That must be tough.”
Though he was an annoying guy, dealing with stalker-like sasaengs was on a completely different level.
Moreover, Ban Yo-han never thought of becoming an idol before and had been living a normal life.
I heard that fans were digging up his entire life from when he was a kindergarten kid until now.
Anyway, he had suddenly changed his number yesterday and created a new group chat because of sasaengs.
“It’s not that bad yet. I was just going to keep my number, but my aunt said it was better to change it early, so I did. Anyway, be careful too.”
“Well, I’ll be careful, but…”
“Really be careful. Even I can tell you everything you’ve done since the training camp ended.”
“No way. Are you a sasaeng?”
“……”
“I was just joking, but why can’t you answer? Could it be true…?”
“Think a little. Do you really think that’s what it means? I’m speechless.”
Ban Yo-han looked at me with a pitiful gaze. His look hurt my pride deeply.
“Then try guessing what I did yesterday.”
“Yesterday… you practiced at the Luizen building and had pork cutlet kimbap for lunch.”
“What about the day before?”
“You went to the Evergreen Mira Department Store Ilsan branch, tried all the lip products while listening to explanations from the staff for two hours, and got a personal color analysis.”
“How do you know that in such detail?”
“On the day the training camp ended, you stayed at the local library until closing time reading books on practical music and harmonic theory, then went to Gretel Coffee nearby, wrote something on two A4 pages with a bright face, and returned your cup. Isn’t your dorm near Kinex?”
“Wow… how do you know so well? You’re really suspicious.”
“You idiot, eyewitness accounts were posted online that night.”
“!”
“For your information, I heard about yesterday from Gyeol, and I just guessed your dorm location.”
“This guy is a total scammer, isn’t he?”
“And you’re the naive and innocent citizen who fell for the same trick three times already.”
Ban Yo-han, who spouted nonsense about how I wouldn’t survive in the 21st century if I called this a scam, showed me the eyewitness accounts of me posted on the internet.
As Ban Yo-han said, there was at least one eyewitness account of me posted every day, and there were several posts with photos taken from non-front angles.
“When was I photographed?”
I even bought a 10,000 won hat to wear all the time to prepare for this.
It was early May, so the weather was quite hot, and I wasn’t really a celebrity, so wearing a mask seemed excessive.
I didn’t expect people to find out and post about it online.
Except for the cafe part-timer and the cosmetics store staff asking if I was the one from Pick Heart, I thought no one recognized me.
“Judging by the posts, it seems like local residents saw you by chance, but be careful. Once your dorm location is known, it’s a matter of time.”
“Yeah, someone from the company also warned me to be careful of sasaengs.”
Jing Xiao, who was dozing off next to me as punishment for saying weird things on the broadcast, woke up and joined the conversation.
“Right. Seniors from our company who were on the previous season also suffered a lot because of sasaengs.”
Even Ok Do-yoon, who I thought wasn’t listening because he had his eyes closed with both earbuds in, added his thoughts.
“That’s because they’re popular.”
At the cynical comment from a nearby trainee, Jing Xiao, who was about to say something, closed his mouth.
Ban Yo-han showed no reaction. It was more like he had no intention of associating with such people.
“That’s not true. I’d really hate it if someone I didn’t know was waiting for me in front of my house.”
I frowned slightly as I spoke.
### Chapter 59 (Continued)
Even though it wasn’t the first time an eyewitness account had been posted, it was still a bit startling to realize that someone had been watching me without my knowledge.
Just thinking about sasaengs gave me the creeps.
“Yeah. If you got dozens of calls from strangers, your perspective would change.”
Na Yoon-jae, who was carefully cleaning his phone screen with an alcohol swab from who knows where, nodded in agreement.
It seemed he had also experienced it.
“Let’s stop talking about unpleasant things. Anyone want some chocolate? I’m running low on energy.”
Ban Yo-han pulled out several chocolates from his pocket.
“Me.”
“Me too, just one.”
“Here.”
It felt a bit mushy when I touched it, and when I unwrapped it, the chocolate had completely melted, making my hands sticky.
“Ugh, it’s all melted.”
“Mine’s not melted. Why’s yours like that?”
Failing at the draw, I ended up slurping the chocolate pooled inside the wrapper and got up from my seat.
“Does anyone have a wet wipe? …No? I’ll go wash my hands then.”
“You could just lick it off.”
“No way. My hands are dirty right now, so I was trying to only touch the wrapper. I’ll just go wash them.”
“Your team’s turn is almost up. If you’re going, hurry back.”
I answered affirmatively and left the waiting room.
Since I had been here several times, finding the bathroom was easy.
But…
“…I think it’s pretty obvious who’s going to debut just by looking at the airtime and editing. Have you never thought about that?”
I stopped dead in my tracks, hearing the low voices from inside the bathroom.
It seemed like a conversation I shouldn’t overhear.
“Oh, that? Honestly, I could tell after the first episode.”
Should I go in?
“Did you see the Pick Board post analyzing our airtime? A few top contenders are hogging all the spotlight.”
Probably not, right?
* * *
While On Raon was carefully avoiding the landmines on his way to the upstairs bathroom, the conversation among the trainees inside continued.
“Did you see this?”
One trainee showed an SNS account with a basic profile picture on his phone.
@PickHeartRuiner [You think we wouldn’t find out that some companies got the schedule and filming details in advance? Lol. I wonder if other agencies know this. Even if they do, what can they do… It’s lucky enough if they don’t get mistreated by their own companies. Sigh… (photo)]
.
.
.
┗ @PickHeartRuiner [I’ve left the fandom, and I’ll blow up this account later, so don’t worry about suing me or anything. Haha. Worry about your own lives, people who can’t leave. As long as those nasty execs like Insu and Amuto see people as cash cows, whether or not your faves debut, you’ll be miserable…]
There were more tweets, most filled with expletives that made me worry the account owner would get sued.
“Wow, this is really something.”
“How did you see a private account?”
“I followed them before they went private. This person spoiled the broadcast last time, and it was all correct. Gave me chills.”
“So this is all true then?”
Their conversation continued until one trainee realized he was being too loud.
* * *
After washing my hands, I finished the dry rehearsal smoothly.
We still had two more rehearsals left, including setting up different sets for each stage.
“Our fans are called ‘Farmers.’ Isn’t that cute?”
“Why ‘Farmers’? Is it because your company is named Seed?”
“That’s exactly why.”
We chatted quietly to conserve our energy as we waited again before moving on to the camera rehearsal.
The PD roughly explained where the cameras would be and which ones to look at during each part.
Today’s daily quest was to “miss the camera no more than three times during the camera rehearsal,” so I paid extra attention to the explanation.
“In this part, there’s going to be a close-up from the left, so make sure to check that.”
“Yes!”
Having experienced it once in the first round, everyone understood quickly.
Understanding with your head and your body reacting were two different things, though.
Just when I thought the red light was on here, it would move there… and when I found one, it would move far away again…
Missing the camera for more than two seconds triggered an orange “miss!” effect in the corner of my vision.
‘If I miss three more times, I’ll be sleeping on the street tonight.’
I sharpened my focus even more.