Chapter 87 Part 2: Produce 408

Conversation with the juniors.

The name alone sounds grand, but in reality, it was nothing much.

“You know how hard it is to just keep living as a trainee, right?”

“They should at least give us a decent waiting room···”

It’s always hot, and the air conditioner doesn’t even work·····.

Like this.

It was mostly just listening to the trainees vent a few times.

“Actually, meeting fans is nice too.”

But sometimes strange people come, and it’s so tiring·····.

“Ah, right, right!.”

Of course, this waiting room wasn’t filled only with pure trainees.

There were cases where those who had debuted under an existing agency but whose group had disbanded, or small-time idols came out to promote themselves.

‘We’ll be seeing each other’s faces in the future anyway.’

Is it that it’s not bad to make connections in advance?

This would be beneficial for me too.

Well, frankly speaking, isn’t there even a slight possibility that a VTS-level talent might emerge from among them?

Looking at how the Japanese entertainment industry is going these days, it seems unlikely, but still, you never know what might happen in life.

There’s nothing to lose by getting acquainted like this.

“Yeah, I know how that feels·····.”

“Oh, Senpai, you too?”

I comforted the juniors who continued to lament their situations.

Fan signing events and such usually have a lot of strange people.

“Well, we’ve never done handshake events or anything like that, though.”

“That’s a bit enviable·····.”

Underground idols mostly rely on supplementary income like selling cheering sticks, photo shoots, or handshake events, rather than ticket sales.

It’s amazing that we, who made it big by breaking even with ticket sales alone from the beginning, are the ones who are great.

How long had it been since we talked about various things like that?

A junior who had been pushed to the back came up and spoke to me.

“Um, Senpai·····.”

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

When I turned my head, what I saw was pink.

Cherry blossom-like, stylish pink hair was the first thing that caught my eye.

This kid, I like her gaze, huh?

My first impression was similar to Nano, but she felt a bit more mature than that.

At first glance, she even felt a bit like me.

“You, what’s your name?”

“Ah, um·····.”

“Not your real name, your stage name.”

We’re not close, and this is the business world, so it’s a bit much to ask for her real name already.

When I asked for her stage name, an answer came back immediately.

“Ah, I’m Yukari!”

“Really?”

That’s a pretty name.

I kept mulling over that name.

I didn’t know at this time.

That this kid would become the leader of Love Komachi, and my direct junior in the same agency.

How long had it been since I talked with Yukari like that?

“Un-unnie~!”

“Ah, you’re here?”

Just then, Hina, who had arrived at the filming site, came into the waiting room to get me.

“Then, goodbye everyone.”

See you on stage.

“Yes!”

Goodbye!

I left the waiting room, receiving farewells from the idol hopefuls.

---

Perhaps because we were guests, after all, the waiting room we used was bigger and better than the juniors’.

“This place is nice.”

The juniors would feel a sense of deprivation if they saw this.

“By the way, how did you manage to come find me?”

“Hehe, I came to find you in case you got lost, Unnie!”

I was sure you’d be there.

While checking the outfit codes in the waiting room beforehand, I asked Hina.

“By the way, Unnie, what were you doing there?”

“What do you mean, what was I doing?”

I just talked with our juniors a bit.

There were many promising kids.

Why on earth were they born in Japan and dream of becoming idols?

It would have been better if they were born in Korea.

I sometimes have these thoughts.

We’re all too late now, so we can’t even expand overseas properly.

‘·····We have many cool kids in Japan too.’

Well, still, if they get good results in this audition and get cast, they’ll probably be active mainly in Korea.

It might be a good thing.

As I thought that and turned my head, Hina’s gaze was unusual.

“Unnie, you’re not planning to abandon us, are you?”

“Really now, why would I abandon you?”

Huh?

There’s no way I’d abandon these kids and go raise other ones.

That would never happen, even if the sky split open.

By the way, to think she’d be anxious about something like that.

“Cute, aren’t you just?”

“Uuuing…”

Soft soft

I played with Hina’s cheeks for a long time before letting go.

“Then, should I get my clothes ready too·····.”

Other members are done after one group performance, but team leaders like us also have solo performances.

Just as I had finished taking care of the kids’ clothes and styles and was about to prepare my own solo outfit.

“Excuse me·····”

“Hmm?”

Tap tap-

At the hand tapping my back, I turned my head to see a young woman standing behind me, fidgeting restlessly.

Looking at her, she doesn’t seem to be a celebrity, more like staff or a manager.

Did something go wrong?

“Um, excuse me··· Uh···· So······.”

“Just speak comfortably.”

I can speak Korean.

There were only 30 minutes left until the broadcast.

If something had gone wrong, it would be a big deal, so I decided to just come out with my Korean skills.

Her continued attempts to communicate with me in clumsy Japanese were also somewhat pitiful.

Seeing her come all this way, it must be something important…

“Um··· Could you possibly, give me your number·····.”

“·····Ha?”

And the remark that came back was truly surprising content.

What, number?

Suddenly?

This person, does she have such preferences?

Or is it a trick by a rival company trying to ruin our group?

A woman getting another woman’s number, that in itself is dangerous… or is it…?

“Um, it’s not me·····”

Those people over there·····.

“Yes?”

At those words, I peeked my head slightly.

A group of men huddled together came into view.

Let’s see, their outfits are strangely similar, so they look like male idols from the same group.

Among them, a strangely familiar face caught my eye.

It was the man I had bumped into in the hallway just now.

“⸻.”

The man, noticing my gaze, winked.

“Uwek.”

As if it were natural, I gagged.

Oh, so you’re the culprit.

No wonder you seemed to want to say something, was it to hit on me?

“Eh·····?”

“Um, anyway, I don’t think I can give you my number.”

“Yes?”

Huh?

Disgust or whatever aside, forget everything else, I’m an idol.

In the first place, that kind of appearance isn’t even my type.

No, more than that, that side is probably an idol too, don’t they care about such things?

As I indirectly expressed my refusal, the manager’s flustered reaction returned, as if she hadn’t expected it at all.

The manager, who seemed to have made up her mind, took a deep breath and spoke.

“·····Could, could you please just save me this once?”

If I go back just like this, I’ll really get chewed out.

“Yes···?”

“Please, just accept it, okay?”

From what I gathered, the people in charge apparently have bad personalities.

And in the meantime, they only act intelligently towards people who are easygoing and won’t spread rumors outside.

‘·····Is this an entertainment industry or just a gang of bullies?’

It felt like my illusions about the Korean entertainment industry had been shattered.

This really reminds me of delinquent students from my school days.

“Hoo····· Then, please give it to me for now.”

“Ah, yes!!”

Since I also know well the difficulties of such middle managers, I decided to accept the number itself for now.

Right, huh?

It’s just their gaze that’s like that.

Isn’t it possible that normal conversations, not necessarily strange ones, could take place?

…Looking at their eyes, it doesn’t seem likely, but still, if it’s strange content, I’ll just block them.

And so, I sent off the Korean manager who was repeatedly bowing her head to me in gratitude.

“Hmm?”

Unnie, what’s wrong?

“·····Just, that Korea is a scarier country than I thought.”

That’s what I was thinking.

Wow, this side isn’t easy either.

Still, is it better than my neighborhood where yakuza run entertainment agencies?

“Still, coming to Korea, something feels different.”

On the way from the waiting room to the stage, Airi spoke.

Korea right now is a place that can be considered the pinnacle of the global idol industry.

To be performing in such a place, against Korean idols, it was inevitable to be nervous.

Until now, what we had fought against were Japanese idols with relatively lower skills.

No matter how similar the skills are, if you’re told to compete against famous people you’ve never seen before, you naturally feel intimidated.

“Is everyone nervous?”

“Well··· I guess so?”

“Korean idols are really famous these days·····.”

Sigh, this won’t do.

It seems I need to boost our kids’ morale a bit before we start.

[Ah, this time, it’s the moment everyone has been waiting for.]

At the end of that hallway.

Leaving the sound echoing from the stage behind, I spoke to the members.

“Still, none of you are thinking of losing, right?”

Well, no matter how nicely you sugarcoat it.

The reason we go up first is obvious.

Since Japanese idol skills are famous, their intention is probably to emphasize themselves by contrasting them with Korean idols.

Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of letting them get away with it.

After years of working to death, word is finally spreading that a talented group has emerged even in Japan.

If we, who are at the peak in Japan when it comes to skill alone, were to be miserably crushed by the Korean side, what would other idols think?

I couldn’t tolerate rising new talents being disregarded like that.

And, it seemed the other members felt the same way.

“⸻Isn’t that obvious?”

“Let’s completely crush them.”

“Tell them to come out.”

“Blocking a junior’s path, that’s not something a senior should do.”

Right now, we are no different from the Japanese national team.

“Then, let’s go up.”

Let’s show them properly.

Well, they often say it’s okay to lose in the finals, but you can’t lose a Korea-Japan match, right?

‘That’s the same for us.’

A challenge has been issued, so we can’t just sit back and give up.

Even if the opponent’s status is lofty.

[⸻The Korea-Japan Idol Battle everyone has been waiting for!]

It starts right now!

The 25th Anniversary Program for Korea-Japan Cultural Exchange.

There, the long-awaited Korea-Japan battle commenced.