LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 78: Is Life Just About Getting What You Want?
Chapter 78 Is Life Just About Getting What You Want?
“Ugh, I’m so tired…”
Ye-jun yawned loudly and scratched his cheeks as he slumped in the back seat of the minivan.
“I know you’re out of your mind after working all day, but have some dignity as an idol.”
Kyunghwa grumbled as he leaned on Ye-jun’s shoulder, exhausted himself.
“Everyone worked hard today. Seong-won did the most, but the others must have had a hard time too.”
The manager, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, finally gave us some words of encouragement.
We had been through a lot… I’m sure the other members felt the same, but I had faced more twists and turns than anyone.
“I’m going to take a shower and go to bed as soon as we get home.”
Kyunghwa looked at his phone screen with a soulless gaze and blinked weakly.
I glanced back and peeked at what he was looking at.
It was a collection of supportive posts for Kyunghwa on a community site.
Because of the public outcry over the Floss fandom, who had been constantly attacking Climax, Kyunghwa also received a lot of ridicule along with them.
Luckily – I don’t know if this was due to some item or skill effect – the main account of the fake account that had been leading the mockery of Kyunghwa was exposed, and it seemed that a wave of support for Kyunghwa had started.
[- Aren’t these ‘some’ tempo fans really pathetic? Their own group is not doing badly, but they are trying to step on a group that is just starting to get some recognition. Their malicious intent is so creepy.]
[- These guys are doing this on their sub-accounts and keep trying to attach weird keywords to Kyunghwa’s name. It’s so disgusting.]
(Photo)
[- Why do they have to do such negative fan activities? Let’s just look at the good things and live happilyㅠㅠㅠ Why do they live like that ugh]
[The message book for Kyunghwa’s support is up! Please leave your cheering messages in the comments here, and we will organize them nicely and send them to the agency.]
(Link)
Not only the fans of Climax, but also those who didn’t like the Floss fandom before, left their messages of support one by one.
It was a bit hard to be happy in this situation, but… I felt relieved that it seemed to be resolved somehow.
“Let’s do rock-paper-scissors first to decide who will shower first when we get home.”
Kyunghwa, who was slumped down, suddenly got up as if he remembered something important. Ye-jun, who was resting his chin on Kyunghwa’s head, got hit hard on his forehead by Kyunghwa’s chin and let out a stupid scream.
“Ouch.”
“Stop ouching and get ready for rock-paper-scissors.”
Under Kyunghwa’s determined leadership, Seong-won and Sunwoo, who didn’t say a word as if they were exhausted, reluctantly stretched out their hands.
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
The first round was a tie with two fists, one scissors, and two papers.
“Again, rock, paper, scissors!”
The second round was a clear win or lose with two scissors and three papers.
“Yay!”
Kyunghwa and Sunwoo, who were making a fuss because they wanted to shower first, were scissors.
“What about the rest?”
Ye-jun, who was looking at his paper with a resentful eye, blinked and looked at me and Seong-won.
Of course, he didn’t blink once when he looked at Seong-won.
“I’m good. You guys go ahead and shower.”
I was so tired that I didn’t even have the energy to shower even if I went to the dorm right away.
When I closed my eyes, the things that happened in the world that wasn’t real, and the things that happened at the concert hall just before, came to my mind vividly.
“Okay, thank you~.”
Ye-jun let out a sigh of relief and whistled as he stretched out his body on the seat again.
Seongwon looked at me silently and then opened his mouth quietly.
“If you want to shower first, go ahead.”
What’s wrong with you? I shook my head, no.
“No. I’m too tired to even have the energy to shower.”
It was a lame excuse in front of the guy who had just performed three songs in a row by himself, from the first round to the final, with only a short break in between.
But I had gone through something incredible that none of you knew about.
I didn’t bother telling you, because you would have just treated me like a lunatic. It was better to be pitied than ridiculed.
“Fine.”
Seong-won nodded briefly and closed his eyes again, crossing his arms. If he had gone on stage without a mask today, he would have taken a legendary photo.
His performance had captivated the audience with nothing but passion and courage, without any seductive tricks or skilled charms.
‘I wish I could have won, though.’
The one who got the most attention was obviously Seongwon. I decided to be content with that.
[Now! The audience votes for the first performer, contestant number 24, are! 290 votes!]
It was a very high score, considering that there were only about 60 votes left. But I couldn’t predict how many votes he would lose in the second round.
Everyone calmed down their hearts that had been pounding from the amazing stage before and waited for the second round.
The lights went off and then on again, and number 7 walked out confidently in a much more dazzling dress than when she spun the roulette.
[I, now like a fading flower, will leave-]
The song that the seventh contestant brought out with the majestic live orchestra was a famous drama OST.
The song choice, filled with poignant patriotism and passion, suited the contestant’s powerful voice well.
‘This is definitely… a pick for the elders. They chose well.’
The high notes soared amazingly, and everyone had to hold their breath and watch the magnificent stage.
Judging by the enthusiastic reaction of the audience, it was a landslide victory for the contestant, but the result was hard to predict as the generations were divided.
Finally, as the curtain fell on a stage that resembled a musical, some of the contestant’s votes had moved to the other side.
[Now, we will reveal the real-time audience vote results!]
[First: 198]
[Second: 152]
It was a close call, but Seongwon won. He should have widened the gap here, so he could relax even if the judges were biased against him.
But he lost quite a few votes because of the amazing costume change in the middle, from a dress to a fusion hanbok.
What about the viewer votes? Text votes were mostly used by the younger generation, so this should be definitely in Seongwon’s favor.
And it was.
[Now, we will reveal the results of the real-time viewer votes!]
[First: 24,513 votes]
[Second: 12,129 votes]
I had a more than twofold advantage here. The key point was the judges’ evaluation.
[We will now reveal the judges’ scores!]
Could the seventh contestant overturn the results of the viewers’ and audience’s votes with the effect of doubling their score? Everyone watched with bated breath.
A middle-aged male producer, first round 24 points, second round 30 points
A middle-aged female agency president, first round 23 points, second round 29 points
The scores were revealed and boos erupted from the audience.
A famous female singer in her 30s, First: 22 points, Second: 30 points
The boos grew louder, but the judges didn’t change their expressions and held up their scorecards.
Now, the last one. A fellow idol and… someone who had been in a ridiculous rivalry with me all day long on the stage, Kang Yugeon of Floss.
A male idol in his 20s, First: 28 points, Second: 28 points.
I snorted at the blatant tie, and that too at 28 points.
It was time to see the final results.
[Now, who will be the 6th diamond of ‘Star Discovery’! Let’s witness the glorious moment together!]
The MC made exaggerated gestures and quickly added a very very important remark.
[The results will be announced in 60 seconds!]
“Ugh, what the hell…”
“What’s the score? I don’t know what will happen if they apply 2x.”
“Doesn’t 2x mean that Second wins?”
“The viewer votes are so different…”
People took out their phones to use calculators all over the seats.
A minute later, the MC resumed the show.
[We will now reveal the final results!]
[Audience votes]
First: 20 points, Second: 15 points
[Viewer votes]
First: 50 points, Second: 25 points
[Judge votes]
First round: 24 points, second round: 58 points (29*2)
What was the total score then? The gap was so big in the viewers’ vote that everyone quickly added up the scores in their heads.
And soon, regretful sighs were heard everywhere.
“Ugh… This show is so dirty.”
“They showed us a good stage and then ruined our mood.”
[Final Result]
First round: 94 points, second round: 98 points
The final score flashed on the scoreboard and the whole stage was dyed in the color of the second round contestant.
[Contestant number 7! Congratulations! Now, please reveal your identities!]
The MC led the seventh contestant to the winner’s throne and sprinkled flower petals from the sky.
On the stage where only a weak spotlight shone on his head, Seong-won took off the mask that had been covering his face tightly.
He must have been very hot inside, his long hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his face. As he turned his head from side to side, even the droplets of sweat flying looked like a scene from a photo shoot.
I’ve said it many times, but he was a guy who had such a handsome face that no one could criticize.
Although he didn’t win by a petty margin, everyone knew who the real winner was.
Before the winner’s interview, the MC handed the microphone to Seong-won, the runner-up.
“Contestant number 24 was the main vocal of the five-member boy group ‘Climax’, Son Seong-won! Seong-won, please share your feelings about being with us until the last stage. Please keep it brief!”
Seong-won received the microphone with his cheeks flushed.
“…I was really happy to show you all the stages I prepared today.”
He smiled faintly on his face, which was unusually eloquent.
“And, I sincerely thank you all for being with me until the last stage.”
As a smile appeared on Seongwon’s face, who had been sullen for a long time, I felt someone holding their breath from one side of the audience.
“And the members who were with me today…”
Seongwon muttered something as if he wanted to say more, but he handed the microphone to the MC with a shy gesture.
Yeah. It was a satisfying stage.
‘That’s enough.’
I looked up at the stage as if I was watching my stubborn son, and covered my face with the back of my hand.
My eyes were sore, and I felt like I would burst into tears at any moment.
After going through a roller coaster of emotions, I felt relieved as soon as all the schedules were over.
I was worried about how Seongwon would feel if he didn’t win. But he said he had no regrets because he would have won the stage if it wasn’t for that weird bonus.
He would be lying if he said he wasn’t angry. But he was content with this.
He was so excited and happy about the experience of singing with the crowd that he brought up the concert as soon as he met the manager.
“The concert is something we can think about after we do well with our comeback.”
Kyunghwa and I pulled Seongwon back to reality, and he made a funny face.
This guy. He really loves singing.
I remembered how he looked so happy on the stage, when he seemed to be gloomy no matter what he did.
‘I want to support him so he can keep singing.’
I couldn’t help but feel thrilled after seeing such an amazing stage.
I want to succeed. I really do. I want to be with these members even after a month.
I was surprised that I had forgotten about revenge.
“Everyone, get some rest. It seems like the internet mess has been sorted out as a misunderstanding among yourselves, so don’t worry too much.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
We ran for a while and arrived at the dorm, and we didn’t know what was going on with us until we saw off the manager.
Some of them dragged their tired bodies to the third floor to take a shower, and the rest collapsed on the sofa.
“Ah…”
Ye-jun stretched out his body and dropped his phone, then he suddenly got up as if he was shocked.
“Holy shit! Hey, wake up!”
He slapped Seongwon’s cheek as if it was not my business.
“What the hell, are you crazy?”
Seongwon opened his eyes with a frown.
“I’m not crazy, look at this!”
What’s wrong with him?
I dragged my tired body and peeked at the screen over Ye-jun’s shoulder.