episode_0127

Buuung-.

“… … .”

“… … .”

In the car on the way to the set of Naaah.

It was always the same time and always the same way, but there was something a little different from usual.

That’s it… .

“Ah… , I’m nervous… .”

“Honey, is it like that too? me too… .”

“It’s Yerin doing it, not us, so I don’t know why we’re nervous.”

Just like the first time I went on set, I now had my parents on both sides of me.

Kang Hyeong-man got a little nervous and yelled at the two because his parents filled the car with all the sound instead of Sang-gu’s quiet older brother, Kang Hyeong-man.

“Can you both go a little quietly?”

“Ah… .”

“Yes… .”

Kang Hyeong-man’s small shouting caused my parents to immediately wake up and cling to me and whisper.

“President Kang is too sensitive… .”

“Yerin, is Boss Kang doing that to you too? If that’s the case, tell your dad right away… .”

“… It’s because dad and mom are loud, so let’s go quietly.”

“… Heeing.”

Only then did the two lower their voices when they turned away from me as well.

and… .

“Yerin.”

“… Yes?”

My dad asked me in a serious tone for the first time in a very long time.

“Yerin, do you really want to become an idol?”

“… … .”

It was the first time in a very long time that my father appeared in a serious manner.

I was taken aback for a moment, but then answered with the same seriousness.

“Yes, I want to be.”

“… … Then do you really want to debut through Naah?”

“What is that… .”

“No, why… , although my daughter will never do that. You never know… . How could I possibly be eliminated from Naaah… .”

“… … .”

“If you say you can’t debut in NAAH… , Still want to become an idol?”

I was lost in thought for a moment at my father’s question.

Of course, the chance of me failing at Naaah now was extremely small.

However, if there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of falling from Naaah… .

First of all, it seems very sad and despairing.

and… .

I think it will be extremely sad that I won’t be able to be on the same team as the other contestants I’ve developed a close relationship with.

“Even if I leave Naaa, I want to continue being an idol.”

“… … .”

“Still… , I will definitely debut at Naaa. Because I have my colleagues in Naaa. If you don’t debut in Naaah… , It will be very painful.”

Dad looked uncomfortable for a moment at my answer, and then… .

Sigh-.

“Yes, my daughter will definitely be able to do it.”

“Mom and Dad will be able to cheer hard outside.”

Soon, my mom and I patted my back.

These words and attitudes of my father and mother were contrary to the way they openly tried to throw straws at me when I first accompanied them to the set.

“Dad… , mom… . Thank you.”

So, foolishly, I thought that my father and mother had changed a little.

“I… , I will work hard and come back.”

“Okay… !”

“Fighting… !”

I don’t even know what my dad and mom are thinking in their heads right now.

**

Squeak.

The car arrives at the set… .

“There are a lot of people.”

I could see that there were more people at the set entrance than usual.

Since this was NaaAh’s last filming, it seemed like the other contestants’ whole families came out to cheer them on.

“Fighting! You can do well!”

One participant’s father encouraged his daughter by shouting loudly… .

“Ugh… , When did my daughter grow up like this? .”

One participant’s mother hugged her daughter, sobbing in tears.

And my father and mother are also tired of this… .

“Huhhh… ! Yerin… ! I’m proud of you for already making your name known to people even though you’re not even an adult yet… !”

“As the kids say these days, she was my own little Haye-rin… , When did you grow up like this? .”

“You can do well, right?”

“Whenever I have a hard time, I think of my mom and dad… ! Ugh… .”

“… Okay, so please stop this.”

As usual, he was shaking as much as he could, hugging me, kissing me, and massaging me.

I barely escaped my father and mother and stood in front of Kang Hyeong-man.

Kang Hyeong-man only spoke to me more concisely than usual.

“You’ve done well so far, so finish well and come back.”

“… … .”

This made me feel a little disappointed.

I know that Kang Hyeong-man is a blunt person by nature.

But on days like today, wouldn’t it be okay to say a few more words to cheer you up?

I think I also became very comfortable with Kang Hyungman at some point.

I immediately stuck out my mouth a little and grunted at Kang Hyeong-man.

“What is it? Boss, is that the end?”

“Hmm?”

“Other people were trembling and saying goodbye, but the boss greeted me shorter than usual… .”

Only then did Kang Hyeong-man chuckle slightly, place his hand on my head, and say,

“Because I trust you.”

“… !”

And that one word… .

“I did it because I trust you, who has always done well so far.”

“… … .”

Although it was short, it reassured and reassured me more than any other words of coaxing.

“I was contacted by the production team. They say they will invite company officials and their families to the live broadcast next week.”

“Ah… .”

“I’ve never seen your stage right in front of me before, but this will be my first time seeing it.”

Only Kang Hyeong-man sees my performance in person.

It was a thrilling yet thrilling experience.

“Hard times… , See you next week. No matter what result you get… , I believe in you.”

“Thank you… , boss.”

After saying those words, Kang Hyeong-man lightly stroked my head.

As I bowed my head, Sang-gu came up to me and left a message.

“Because I’m usually good at it… , I’ll do well this time too. Fighting.”

“Thank you, brother.”

I bowed my head slightly to Sanggu and said hello to everyone.

“Then, I will come back. See you next week!”

“Okay, come back.”

“Fighting my daughter.”

After saying hello to Kang Hyeong-man, Sang-gu, my father, and my mother, I walked inside feeling like a soldier going to war.

and… .

“… Ugh.”

“… … .”

I made eye contact with Hyejeong Lee, who was coming from the opposite direction.

“Hyejeong Eon… .”

I was about to greet Hyejeong Lee when I saw her face like that, but I stopped.

This was because it occurred to me that Hye-Jeong Lee was not properly allocated the screen time on yesterday’s broadcast.

Hyejeong Lee probably doesn’t know that the reason she had so little screen time yesterday was because of the discord between PD Shin and me.

‘Should I tell you the truth?’

When I saw Lee Hye-jeong’s face, which looked a little distraught, I couldn’t help but fall into worry.

But those concerns were meaningless… .

“Yerin.”

As soon as Lee Hye-jeong saw me, she approached me with a bright smile.

“I enjoyed watching yesterday’s broadcast. It came out pretty.”

“Ah… .”

When Lee Hye-jeong first talked about broadcasting, I couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

And when I opened my mouth with a slightly calm expression… .

“Sister… , Yesterday’s broadcast was… .”

“It’s okay.”

Hyejeong Lee smiled brightly and interrupted me.

Then he answered in a tone that conveyed perseverance.

“Sister hasn’t given up yet. Because there are still finals left.”

“… … .”

“So let’s fight, okay?”

At least the face of Lee Hye-jung who said that did not look like she had given up on debut.

‘I shouldn’t be here for no reason.’

In response, I followed Lee Hye-jeong and somehow raised the corners of my mouth.

and… .

“Yes, sister, let’s do well in the last one too.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

I went inside, holding hands with Lee Hye-jeong.

Lee Hye-jeong’s hands that were holding each other were shaking a little.

**

After unpacking our bags at the accommodation and changing into training clothes, we gathered at the filming site.

It was the set with the now familiar pyramid seats.

As I stood with Lee Hye-jeong in the center waiting for the ranking announcement ceremony, friendly participants gathered around me.

“Sister.”

“Yujin.”

“I came too.”

“Yes, Yujeong.”

The first ones to approach me were Seo Yu-jin and Park Yu-jeong.

“Sister… , You created a personal account, but why don’t you accept my follow-up… .”

“Eujin… , that is… . There are circumstances, so I’ll explain later.”

“Heeing… .”

Seo Yujin wrapped her arms around me and hugged me as if she was disappointed that I didn’t return her arms.

To comfort Seo Yu-jin, I gently scratched her chin.

This was Seo Yu-jin’s favorite skinship.

Park Yu-jeong, who was looking at me and Seo Yu-jin, clung to my other arm and spoke in a whisper.

“But sister… . Maybe it’s because it’s the finals, but the atmosphere isn’t very good.”

“… That’s right.”

I answered Park Yu-jeong’s words and looked around.

As Park Yoo-jung said, the atmosphere among the participants was much heavier and colder than before.

When I went to take the CSAT in my past life, I wonder if it made me feel the early morning air at the test site.

So I turned my head here and there to take a better look at the atmosphere… .

“Ah.”

I made eye contact with Yu Seol.

Sreuk.

As soon as she made eye contact with me, she gave me a light greeting.

It can be said to be a huge improvement compared to the past when I was just ignoring and acting coldly… .

“… … .”

Perhaps because it was the finals, Yu Seol’s eyes showed a nervousness that could not be hidden.

Other participants added that the theory was like that.

Even… .

‘Even Hannah… .’

Even Na Hanna, who always had a drowsy face and sleepy eyes, was so nervous that her eyes were clearly open.

And there was a participant right next to me who looked different from usual.

“Sister, I have something to tell you… .”

“Hmm? Tell me, Yujeong.”

Park Yoo-jung hesitated and called me, so I turned my gaze from looking around back to Park Yoo-jung.

And Park Yoo-jung, who met me… .

“I… , I really want to be on the same team as my sister in the finals.”

“… … .”

Instead of his usual face full of playfulness and laughter, he had an expressionless face.

Park Yoo-jung said this openly… Since she had never asked to be on the same team with a straight face, I was confused at first, but then I understood her.

‘Because it’s the finals, even Yujeong in the world must have been nervous.’

Park Yoo-jung is the contestant I became closest to on NAAH, and she has good singing and dancing balance, so she was one of the members I wanted to debut with.

In addition, the team with Park Yoo-jung always had a good atmosphere because they were friendly.

So, if possible, I wanted to be on the same team as Park Yoo-jung at this final stage.

It was at that time that I nodded willingly and answered Park Yoo-jung.

“Yes, Yujeong. If we can, we’ll be on the same team this time… .”

“Okay, let’s start filming now! All participants, please prepare. then… , cue!”

One of the production crew members shouted a cue sign to announce the start of filming.

Thanks to that, my voice was buried, so I whispered to Park Yoo-jung one more time.

“I want to be on a team with you too, Yujeong, let’s be a team.”

“… Yes, definitely.”

And as soon as he finished talking with Park Yoo-jung, Han Si-woo appeared on stage.

“Hello, everyone! Greetings as we announce the start of Naaa Final Parking! This is Han Si-woo!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

The participants gave a business-like applause to the now familiar appearance of Han Si-woo.

Han Si-woo smiled at the sight of the participants and began his formal opening remarks.

And as soon as the opening remarks ended… .

“… Now, the time has come for all participants to wonder.”

“… … !”

“It is time for the ranking announcement ceremony.”

The long-awaited ranking announcement ceremony has begun.

“This ranking announcement ceremony is the last opportunity to find out your ranking before the final ranking announcement that determines Naaah’s debut group. Its importance cannot be expressed in words.”

“… … .”

At Han Si-woo’s words, all the participants, including me, swallowed their saliva.

As he said, the importance of this ranking announcement ceremony was truly enormous.

‘It is no exaggeration to say that the debut group will be vaguely selected at this ranking announcement ceremony.’

It wasn’t just a problem with debut.

Through this ranking announcement, we were able to see who was closest to winning.

‘At the last ranking announcement ceremony, I was first place with a 260,000 vote difference from Yu Seol.’

However, in the last contest, in a 1-on-1 match, Yoo Seol won from me by a narrow margin.

I don’t think the fairly large gap of 260,000 was reversed all at once, but Yoo Seol must have followed suit this time by a large margin of votes.

How many votes is there between me and Yoo Seol?

Is that enough to reverse the situation? … Or have you already surpassed me?

What will be the rankings of the other participants?

What about me? What about Seo Yujin?

What about Park Yoo-jung, who is barely out of the debut zone?

… What about Lee Hye-jeong? Could it be that the ranking was lower than last time?

Ahead of the ranking announcement ceremony, my head began to be filled with curiosity and tension as if it was going to explode.

This seemed to be the same for other participants as well, as everyone seemed to be focusing only on the shape of Han Si-woo’s mouth.

Han Si-woo turned a page of the progress sheet while receiving everyone’s attention.

“This ranking announcement ceremony… , I will announce the eliminated candidates first.”

I’m sorry, but I wasn’t curious about who was eliminated.

The only thing I was curious about was the ranking of the survivors.

“Next, the rankings of the survivors are announced… .”

“… … .”

Han Si-woo, who knew that everyone was waiting for his words, did not continue immediately and took a break.

And the moment his mouth opens again… .

“… !”

I could see.

A wicked, boy-like smile on his lips.

“… I will not disclose it.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

At Han Si-woo’s words, the atmosphere in the room became cold, as if it were frozen.

In that situation, Han Si-woo picked up the microphone again and shouted.

“Let me say it again. At this ranking announcement ceremony just before the finals… , We will not disclose the ranking of survivors.”

“… … Ah.”

“… What is that?”

Only then did the participants, including me, come to their senses and start to get excited.