The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

I didn’t know the Insight ability was applicable in situations like this too, but if I thought about it, there was no reason why it wouldn’t. This was an ability that allowed me to gain a deep intuitive understanding of the world. Besides the limit that I could only use it once a day, this was a truly cheat-like ability. The activation period didn’t last for long and after all sorts of ideas popped into my head, it ended.

Ding.

The speed of the world returned to normal, and I was inflicted with a spell of dizziness. Yet, there was a pressing topic that needed my immediate attention.

“Hey guys.”

“Huh?”

“Do we still have the hanbok outfit we wore last time?”

“Ah, yeah?”

“It’s probably inside the car trunk.”

“You want us to wear hanbok again?”

“No, not for wearing. But if it’s possible, could you bring them all out?”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

The first person to move under my request was Yeon-Hoon. It seemed he caught onto what I was planning to do first. Even though he was usually slow, he acted unusually fast today.

“Do you need anything else?”

“Um, could you also get scissors, tape with a strong adhesive, and a pin? I don’t think I have time to do sewing right now.”

“Ah…Okay!” Yeon-Hoon shouted and moved outside the waiting room.

“Sewing? What are you talking about?” Do-Seung appeared like he had no idea what was going on, and Woon also appeared doubtful about my suggestions.

“Are you trying to change our outfits right now?”

“Like seriously repair them right now?”

“Yes, I’m going to mend the clothes.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Tae-Yoon, even so, this is a bit too much…it’s not like we are professionals.”

They seemed uncertain whether I would do a good job repairing the clothes. I also couldn’t be completely certain of my abilities either, but I knew this was the only way.

“It’s not like we can go outside wearing ripped clothes,” I said. It wasn’t as if we had a choice, and I added, “If it’s not good, we can just go out nude.”

“What did you say?”

“You are crazy. Just crazy.”

“Haaa...I don’t know…”

My group members were at a loss as to what to do.

“I will try to make the clothes similar somehow. Truthfully, it can’t get any worse than this.”

My group members stood still, unable to say anything. It was because they knew I was right. If we went up the stage with what we were wearing right now, we would be ridiculed and mocked. Pictures of us would spread across the internet, and we would be brought up whenever the topic of doomed idols was mentioned. Thus, we needed to try something to fix our outfits before our performance.

“And rather than going up on the stage with ripped clothes, we will make more impact by ripping our clothes and showing some bare skin anyway,” I said. I genuinely thought our situation couldn’t get much worse than now so it didn’t matter what changes I made on the clothes.

“Ha…”

“This is so sad…”

Do-Seung and Woon sighed and backed away.

“What if I just use some personal funds right now and get us some new outfits…?” Dong-Jun suggested.

“It’s too late now.”

There wasn’t time for us to get new outfits matching our sizes.

“I brought it, Tae-Yoon!” Yeon-Hoon then brought the past outfits from the car. They were the hanbok that we wore at the last performance. “Here it is. The producers also let us borrow their scissors and tape.”

“Those will be enough.”

I used the clothes and scissors that Yeon-Hoon handed me and ripped the clothes.

“Ahhh….”

“This is making me so nervous.”

Truthfully, I was also nervous because I didn’t know whether this would really work or not, but I thought I should give it a try. I planned to crop the hanbok outercoat a bit so that it was a bit longer than a cape.

“Why are you ripping clothes that are completely fine?”

“It’s better this way.” I slightly ripped the tech-wear pants we were wearing and made more slice marks on the outfit where its back was ripped. I was moving quickly with no hesitation in my movements. While my Insight ability was activated, it seemed I also gained clothes-mending abilities; since there was hardly anyone who didn’t know how to use scissors, it appeared that I gained a buff in cutting and basic craftsmanship. And after finishing my work, I wore the clothes I made.

“You…made this?”

“…What?”

“You are insane…”

My group members looked at me in astonishment. I saw the outfit reflected in the mirror and said, “Let’s change our concept a bit.” We needed to do this since our outfits also changed.

“Let’s go with an Asian cyberpunk space opera.” It was unfortunate that we were using the same Asian theme as before, but I thought all the details fit together with the outfit. And since there was a slight connection with the previous performance, there could be some people who felt like this performance was part of some multi-verse. My group members nodded and began to cast their outfits aside one by one. I took their clothes and immediately got to work.

“Mend them, Tae-Yoon.”

“I think you’re right.”

“I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“I thought you were going overboard, but I was the one who was wrong~”

It appeared my group members were satisfied with the final results. And that was how my work began. And while working on the clothes, I wondered if I should’ve just been a clothesmaker instead of an idol.

***

Luminin, Bleshu, and OnebyOne finished their rehearsals. The Showcase 2’s main producer, Park Soo-Chul looked down the stage and glared towards the studio. The reason for it was simple.

“Only One is coming late?”

“Ah, yes. One of their members is sick.”

“Who?”

“Kang Hyun-sung.”

“What, why is he sick?”

“I’m not sure about that, but he is going to come back after an IV treatment from a nearby hospital.”

Though it was originally Only One’s turn in the rehearsal, they didn’t come yet. They should’ve finished their turn by now since they were supposed to have the opening performance. But they didn’t appear even when it was their turn.

Furthermore, they only told the staff that they were going to come later and that other groups should go before them after everything was set up. If the person getting the IV treatment were anyone else except Kang Hyun-Sung, they probably would’ve made a fuss, but it couldn’t be helped now. They just needed Only One to come before the official shooting.

“Then, tell the Sirens to come next,” Park Soo-Chul said and rubbed his face.

“Okay.”

Because he had been busy with editing the last couple of days, his condition was still poor even though quite some time had passed since the first episode was released.

“But Mr. Park, they say there’s an issue with Siren.”

“…What is it?” He wondered what kind of annoying thing was going to bother him now.

“They say the quality of their outfits is really…bad.”

This wasn’t what he expected. “Is it that bad?”

“Yes.”

“Weren’t their outfits okay before?” Park Soo-Chul had been highlighting Siren over the other groups; why were they slipping like this at such a crucial moment?”

“I don’t know what happened either. It makes me wonder if their company purposefully cut off their funding. I mean, if they get first place, they will have to enter a new contract.”

“Hm. But for that to be the case, it seems like they used quite a lot of money getting dancers and making the set…” Park Soo-Chul’s head hurt. These were the guys he made into the main characters in episode 1, but they were making a mistake in a decisive moment like this. With the amount of effort they poured into them, the broadcasting show should give them the money for their outfits at this point. But most of all, he didn’t understand why everything seemed to be going awry like this.

“This is the scene we shot when they were entering their rooms. You can see their general image…”

“…This is serious.” The image of the Siren members was so shocking that it made him forget the fact that Only One was coming late due to Kang Hyun-Sung’s IV shot.

“This is so unfortunate, really unfortunate.” This was a group where each member had star potential and the ones the show wanted to support. Yet, they suddenly came to the set wearing cheap-looking clothes that looked as if they bought them online for 30,000 won altogether.

‘If they are doing this to keep their image of struggling idols, they are going too far.’ They had already drawn enough attention with that image, and if they stretched it any further, it would make the viewers cringe. No matter how they edited this, this part couldn’t be fixed. Furthermore, the audience coming today would also notice their outfits.

“Well, I guess this is their fate. Sigh. Just tell them to come out on stage.” But it wasn’t as if they could cancel the show. The rehearsal had to go on and there was already trouble with Only One right now. If they continued to use up more time for things like this, it would affect the shooting. Thus, the Sirens were called up to the stage.

“What?” Park Soo-Chul said. Contrary to his expectations, the Siren members were wearing outfits different from what he saw.

Right before they began their official rehearsal, he said, “Wait.” He was the type to usually make someone else intervene, so it was rare for him to act personally.

—Let’s stop for a bit.

He said while holding the megaphone. The melody was about to flow out and stopped at his words.

—It looks like you had an outfit change. What happened?

Though he tried to hide it, there was a strange sense of expectation in his voice. His eyes naturally turned towards the Siren’s maknae, Bong Tae-Yoon.

“I mended it myself,” Tae-Yoon said. This was the answer he had been wanting.

“Ha, seriously,” he laughed humorlessly.

‘This is it!’ he shouted inside his mind and apologized.

—Sorry for cutting you guys off. Let’s continue.

He placed his megaphone down and backed away. He had a good feeling about today’s show too.

***

The rehearsal was over.

“Good work.”

“Good job everyone!”

There were many harsh dance moves mixed with a difficult formation. It was certainly not an easy performance, and the difficulty rose since it was our first time collaborating with the dancers.

“That was splendid!”

“You guys were so cool~”

Yet, we were able to finish our rehearsal without a single mistake. We all went down while high-fiving the dancers, and while going down, I heard some more comments about our outfits.

“The outfits look different from the pictures we saw before. Did you mend them on the spot?”

“Yes, we did it on our own.”

“The design is so good. You have talent in this area too.”

“No, it’s not much.”

“I told you our maknae is a genius.”

“Ah, stop it Dong-Jun…”

“Our Tae-Yoon is really a genius!”

“But this outfit really surprised me.”

“When did you learn a skill like this, Tae-Yoon?”

It appeared everyone thought well of our outfits, and whenever someone complimented me, my group members boasted about me. Since the rehearsal was getting filmed, these scenes would probably air on TV. Thus, I carefully minded my expression so that I wouldn’t appear too arrogant.

“Then, let’s see each other a bit later when we are doing the performance.”

“All right!”

“See you guys later!”

After separating from the dancers in the hallways, we moved to the waiting room. Perhaps, because our outfit problem was solved and the rehearsal ended with no problems, our mood improved. Optimistic energy poured out of us after solving a crisis.

“Haaa.”

“I have a really good feeling about today,” my group members said.

My mood was also pretty good.

“Let’s relax for a bit and roughly match our movements one more time before going on stage!”

“Okay!”

And in that good mood, we tried to enjoy our last break before the official shooting.

‘There’s three hours remaining.’ There was still a lot of time left. It would probably be over in the blink of an eye if we ate and did a couple of other things, but there was no need for us to rush things. I was about to monitor the comments while watching episode 1 and assess the situation when suddenly, I heard a voice.

[A surprise mission]

‘What…?’ Out of the blue, a damn mission fell on me. What in the world?

[Find Only One’s member, Kang Hyun-Sung.]

[Upon success, you will gain Precognitive Vision.]

[Upon failure, Only One will drop out of the program.]

This was unbelievable.

‘Damn it.’ It appeared that this system was never going to give me a break.