episode_0044

The next morning.

Since today is the day of the mid-term evaluation, Park Yoo-jung, I, and Lee Hye-jung came to have breakfast a little early like always.

… No, looking at it now, I think I should leave out the phrase “as always.”

Lee Hye-jeong used to love rice and would eat two bowls at a time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner… .

“… Sister, aren’t you eating?”

“… Ugh, I don’t feel well.”

This was because he only pretended to eat but did not touch the food properly.

Currently, Lee Hye-jeong’s plate contains adequate rice, soup, and side dishes, but the only thing that has decreased in quantity is one of the side dishes, egg rolls.

Lee Hye-jeong didn’t eat anything this morning other than a bite of egg roll.

“Sisters-! I have something to do right now, so I’ll go up first! See you later in the practice room!”

When I let Park Yoo-jeong go first and it was just the two of us left, I cautiously opened my mouth to Lee Hye-jeong.

“… Sister.”

“… Yes.”

“… Then something big happens.”

“… … .”

Today is the 4th day since I started my 2nd week.

All 4 days… , Lee Hye-jeong only pretended to eat and barely ate.

Our team is continuing the forced march of practicing until dawn on the 4th day.

I burn a lot of calories and I don’t even eat, so it’s not surprising that I’m in trouble.

So I couldn’t help but say something mixed with concern to her.

“It’s good to lose weight, but… , What should I do if I collapse?”

“… … .”

“Sister, you’ve already done enough. therefore… , stop now. Starting from lunch today, I will slowly increase the amount of food I eat again. Got it?”

In fact, Hyejung Lee has lost more weight now than she did 4 days ago, before she started her second week of Naaah.

Hyejeong Lee’s body now… , I’m a little thinner than average.

In other words, she is much thinner than the average woman.

She was originally a bit chubby, but it only took two weeks for her to get to this state.

She herself knows better than ever that she is not in good shape right now.

“… Yes, Yerin, you are right.”

“… Sister.”

“Starting from lunch today again… .”

That was the moment when she slowly nodded to my continued persuasion.

“Hmm? Oh, Miss Yerin!”

I suddenly turned around when I heard a voice calling me… .

“Haha, good morning, have you been eating?”

Naaa’s main PD was PD Shin.

Originally, the restaurant was used not only by the contestants but also by the production crew and judges.

There is a rule that the production crew and contestants do not contact each other without any reason, but PD Shin easily ignored that and approached our table.

“I’ve been thinking about saying hello, but the timing wasn’t right, haha. Did you enjoy last week’s broadcast?”

“… Yes.”

“Thanks to Yerin, the broadcast went well and the audience responded well, haha. Please do just that this week too.”

When the new PD suddenly appeared, I treated him with a colder face than usual.

But he continued talking to me as if he didn’t care about that.

and then… .

“Ho… , but… .”

His gaze eventually landed on Hyejeong Lee in front of me.

“I thought someone was the person in front of Yerin, but now I see it was Hyejeong?”

“Yes, yes! PD! How was your last week? ?”

Unlike me, who faced PD Shin with an expressionless face, Lee Hye-jeong faced him with a very earnest face and with great difficulty.

Producer Shin glanced at Hyejeong Lee with his eyes and smiled again.

“It’s so different from before that I didn’t recognize it. Haha, Hyejeong, no, Miss Hyejeong.”

‘… no.’

I secretly begged PD Shin not to say anything more.

However, PD Shin soon said that.

“It’s so good to see it now.”

“… … .”

“If you work harder in the future, you can expect good results. … Huh? Is it time already? Haha, I’m busy so I’ll just go. Well then, good luck to you both~”

Hyejeong Lee had lost weight rapidly and looked a little haggard.

Her face may seem beautiful because it somehow shows a sickly beauty, but… .

‘… No matter where you look, it doesn’t look healthy.’

But what… ? Do you think it’s nice to look at someone like that? Tell me to work harder?

When PD Shin told us to work hard, he probably didn’t just mean to work hard on stage.

maybe… , I guess it means losing weight as hard as you do now.

Originally, it was something you could just ignore.

But the problem is… .

“… … More.”

Lee Hye-jeong was repeating what PD Shin said with blank eyes, as if she had met the Messiah.

So I hurriedly tried to persuade her again, but… .

“… Sister, don’t listen too closely to what that person says. for now… .”

“Yes, Yerin. Thank you for your concern. however… .”

There was already only sad earnestness in her eyes.

“Sister… , I’ll take care of it.”

“… … .”

Seeing her like that… , I couldn’t say anything more.

**

After breakfast… , the time for midterm evaluation has arrived.

The mid-term evaluation was not conducted with everyone gathered together, but rather, each team had to wait in the practice room assigned to them and trainers would come and look at them.

“Who will join our team?”

“Sure.”

Since the trainers who attended each team’s mid-term evaluation were different, it was also fun to see which trainer was attending to which team’s mid-term evaluation.

So, with a little excitement, we waited to see who would come in.

And soon after opening the door, what came in was… .

Sweet.

“I came to take the midterm evaluation.”

“… Huh?”

“Uh-?!”

“Hello, everyone.”

… It was Han Si-woo.

“Wow, awesome!”

“Ha, Han Si-woo-?!”

When Han Si-woo appeared, the team members shouted with enthusiasm.

The fact that he, the main producer of Naaah and the one with the highest recognition among the judges, has come means that we are the team the production team is most looking forward to.

“Haha, I wanted to see our Mackerel Sandwich team’s performance in advance, so I begged the production staff to send me here.”

“Wow-!”

When Han Si-woo said that in a warm tone, the mood in our team also improved.

“… It was good.”

In particular, Seo Yu-jin clenched her fists as if she thought this was a good opportunity.

Park Yoo-jung smiled brighter than usual upon hearing that Han Si-woo had arrived, and Lee Hye-jung had a blank expression on her face as if she was still remembering the conversation with Shin PD earlier.

The reason why Han Si-woo crumpled when he came… .

‘… ruined.’

… There was only me.

Han Si-woo has a friendly face, but in reality, he is a very harsh critic.

And there’s no way Han Si-woo wouldn’t notice our team’s problems.

However, there was no way to send away Han Si-woo, who had already entered our practice room.

“Okay then, please start the performance now.”

So the midterm evaluation began with my worries unresolved.

♪♬♩-!

It’s a choreography that I’ve already tried dozens, if not hundreds of times.

Even the midterm evaluation only looks at section 1.

We had already mastered all the dancing and singing up to the second verse, so there was no way we would make a trivial mistake in the first verse.

“… That’s it!”

Seo Yu-jin, who finished the stage with a sigh of exhaustion and the first verse of the song stopped, smiled.

I think she was quite satisfied because, in her view, there was nothing wrong with it.

but… .

“… … .”

Contrary to her expectations, Han Si-woo’s expression was not good.

I’m not angry, but… , A face that looks somewhat shaken.

Obviously, the stage was completed successfully… , The team members were embarrassed when Han Si-woo showed a negative appearance.

“… I enjoyed it.”

Eventually, Han Si-woo, who had been thinking for a while, picked up the microphone.

“First of all, the time may have been short, but the level of completion on stage was high. The choice to preserve the original song as much as possible was excellent, and the choreography seemed to be well understood. but… .”

“… … .”

“From the perspective of the audience who watched the stage, this stage was… , it wasn’t very pleasant.”

“… … !”

We have seen Han Si-woo’s cold side a lot while spending time in Naa.

Maybe that’s why we knew that Han Si-woo would start speaking harshly from now on.

And the direction of that vitriol is… .

“Participant Haye-rin.”

“… … .”

“What do you think is the problem with this team?”

… It headed straight for me.

Meanwhile, Han Si-woo called me Miss Yerin.

I thought this was his implicit expression of affection and interest.

But now he calls me Contestant Haye-rin.

… As expected, Han Si-woo immediately realized that the biggest problem on our team was me.

“… … Our team’s problem is.”

“It might be difficult to say. That you are ruining the team atmosphere.”

“… … !!”

When Han Si-woo singled out me as our team’s problem, the other team members were very surprised.

Because the other team members were busy just learning the choreography.

I was the first among us to memorize the choreography and I, who has never made a mistake so far, would have never thought that there would be a problem.

“I used to think that Yerin’s stage lacked detail. But I thought it would be resolved over time.”

“… … .”

“What is the concept of this song? This is the image of a fresh and pure woman who wants to find her own love, who wants to know the love that does not know love. But how can the atmosphere be lively if the person in charge of the center is so expressionless and cold while performing?”

As expected, my expressionless expression was the problem.

Other team members probably didn’t know because they only saw the arm and leg movements… , Hyejeong Lee and I were able to figure it out right away after watching the practice video yesterday.

That I, with my expressionless face, was ruining the atmosphere on stage at the center.

“… Participant Yerin Hay. This was a participant I personally had high expectations for. Did you know?”

“… … Yes.”

“But I am very disappointed after seeing the performance today.”

There is such a saying.

The scariest thing is when fans turn anti.

Han Si-woo’s face was filled with great disappointment and betrayal.

And then he sighed at me and picked up the microphone again… .

“If you can’t solve this… , it might be better to change this team center.”

… A sentence that may be somewhat cruel was handed down.