episode_0084

“… Now, the next contestant, Yerin Ha, please choose who you want to be on your team.”

“… Oh that… , yes… .”

When Seo Yu-jin’s nomination was rejected, I looked at it blankly, then came to my senses and answered Han Si-woo’s words.

“… 9th place will be Park Yoo-jung.”

“Yes~ 9th place participant Park Yoo-jung! I was nominated by contestant Yerin Hay! Do you want to accept it?!”

“I will accept it.”

Perhaps sensing the current awkward atmosphere, Park Yoo-jung answered right away without any hesitation.

“Yes! Then, please come up to the podium of Park Yoo-jeong and stand behind contestant Ha Ye-rin!”

So, I was able to select Park Yoo-jung as a team member without any major problems.

It’s unfortunate that they missed out on the main vocalist, Lee Hye-jung, but the smooth selection of Park Yoo-jung, who ranked 9th, was a good news in its own way.

but… .

“… … .”

… Maybe I was shocked by the sight of Seo Yu-jin, who had just been rejected for nomination, but I didn’t feel very happy about it.

This may have been the same for Park Yoo-jung, but the expression on her face as she approached me was not good.

No, it wasn’t just me and Park Yoo-jung.

The other contestants, Lee Hye-jeong, Na Hanna, even Yoo Seol-do, and 10th place Kim Se-hee, who rejected Seo Yu-jin’s nomination, all looked uncomfortable.

In such a cold atmosphere, the order went to Yu Seol… .

“Please select a member of the Yu Seol participant team.”

“… … .”

Yu Seol hesitated, unbecoming… .

“… … 10th place will be Kim Se-hee.”

… Among those remaining, he nominated Kim Se-hee, who had the highest rank and skill, but had just rejected Seo Yu-jin’s nomination.

And Kim Se-hee glanced at Seo Yu-jin with an apologetic look on her face… .

“10th place participant Sehee Kim. I was nominated by a participant in Yu Seol. Would you like to accept it?”

“… I accept it.”

… Yu Seol’s nomination was accepted as is.

Of the six leaders who appeared on the podium, five of them, excluding Seo Yu-jin, each had one team member.

Only Seo Yu-jin… , I was just all alone.

“… … .”

Seo Yu-jin made a blank expression as if she couldn’t believe this situation.

but… .

“… Now, let’s start the second round of nominations.”

Everyone here could guess that her troubles ahead were just beginning.

**

“… sorry. I will refuse.”

“… I will refuse.”

“Well, I refuse.”

“… Sorry.”

Four consecutive rejections towards Seo Yu-jin.

And then the 5th round of nominations began.

So far, all leaders have brought in five team members without a single failed nomination.

… Only Seo Yu-jin has failed in all nominations so far.

And in the fifth nomination… .

“… You were nominated by participant Jiyoung Woo and participant Yujin Seo. Would you like to accept it?”

“Ah… , that, that… .”

The contestant nominated by Seo Yu-jin made a hesitant expression, then lowered her head and answered.

“… sorry. Accept it… , I won’t.”

“… … .”

In fact, this was a result that was predicted from the moment the first nomination failed.

Still, it is quite a burden to be on the same team as Seo Yu-jin, whose image took a huge hit in the last broadcast.

Moreover, if you are nominated by Seo Yu-jin, who failed to select a team member earlier, you will be on a team with lower-ranked contestants… .

‘Who would want to do that… .’

It’s a pity that Seo Yu-jin looks sad now… , team selection was a matter directly related to survival for the participants.

Because I can understand the feelings of the contestants who rejected Seo Yu-jin’s nomination… , the atmosphere became even heavier.

So this time, the fifth round of nominations ended with only Seo Yu-jin failing to be nominated… .

Murmur.

… Murmurs filled with a sense of crisis began to be heard among the participants who had not yet been nominated.

“If I don’t get selected this time… .”

“You may be forced to be assigned to the other team… .”

Considering the remaining participants… , If no other team is nominated, all remaining participants will be forcibly assigned to Seo Yu-jin’s team.

‘That’s literally… , It’s a mess.’

No matter how talented Seo Yu-jin is, it would be impossible to achieve good results with only low-ranking participants.

I never want to go to Seo Yu-jin’s team.

Because of that sense of crisis, even the participants who had looked at Seo Yu-jin with pity until now openly avoided Seo Yu-jin’s eyes and gave off an air of reluctance toward her.

That was when the 6th round of nominations began.

“… Now, let’s start the 6th round of nominations… .”

“Sigh… … , sigh… .”

Even before Han Si-woo finished his presentation, a crying sound broke in.

“Ugh… , ugh… … , right… .”

In the end, Seo Yu-jin couldn’t bear it anymore and shed tears like chicken shit.

Seo Yu-jin had already swollen red around her eyes, probably because she had cried all night.

That kind of girl… , It was truly heartbreaking to see her crying alone with no one around her.

“… … .”

Was this the same for Han Si-woo? , He stopped the proceedings and looked at the new PD outside the set.

He then made a gesture of waving his hand towards PD Shin.

This meant cutting for a moment and stopping filming.

However, Shin PD, who received Han Si-woo’s request… .

Shaking my head.

He shook his head as if to say no… .

Sze-.

He made a gesture as if to continue filming.

“… … .”

Han Si-woo’s eyes lit up for a moment after receiving Shin PD’s order.

He had an expression on his face that he couldn’t do it because filming and everything was so bad.

However, Han Si-woo was a thorough professional when it came to broadcasting… .

Slur-.

His burning eyes immediately cooled down and he continued.

“… Then, we will start the 6th round of nominations now.”

“… … Turn off.”

Seo Yu-jin made a move as if she was trying to stop the tears flowing, but it seemed like it wasn’t easy and she lowered her head and continued to shed tears.

However, even after seeing that, everyone only made sad expressions and no one came forward to comfort them.

When I saw Seo Yu-jin, I couldn’t resist and tried to leave… .

chin.

“… sister. It’s better not to step forward here… .”

I couldn’t do that because Park Yoo-jung stopped me and whispered something.

“… Look at the mood of the production crew right now. If we step out here for no reason and we end up on the same broadcast by mistake… .”

“… … .”

“… For now, you just have to watch. And anyway… , there is nothing we, as mere participants, can do in the first place… .”

At Park Yoo-jung’s words, I turned my attention to the production team.

Aside from PD Shin, who is always funny… , Even after seeing Seo Yu-jin crying, the expressions on the other production staff’s faces remained unfazed.

… This is something that was expected from the beginning.

‘ah.’

Only then did I realize it.

This team selection game… , that it is a hydraulic press to suck up Seo Yu-jin’s last sweet water.

What will Seo Yu-jin, who is now crying pitifully, look like when it goes on air after the production crew edits it?

… For some reason, it didn’t seem like it would reach viewers in a good way.

If I got involved wrongly here, my image could have suffered.

When you look at it rationally… , It was the right choice for me to stay still as Park Yoo-jung said.

As she said… , as a mere participant, there was nothing I could do here.

I’m like that… , avoiding seeing Seo Yu-jin in tears… .

… I just waited for my turn to come.

“Okay~ Then, please start nominating!!”

“Ugh… , hmm… , ugh… .”

Han Si-woo continued the proceedings by forcibly raising the tension, as if he did not want to highlight Seo Yu-jin crying.

But instead of his voice, all I could hear was Seo Yu-jin’s crying.

“Huh… , bam… .”

Tight.

Feeling guilty about this, I closed my eyes.

And when I close my eyes… , I remembered what other people had said to me in the past.

‘I’m going to make you regret what happened today! I really won’t leave you alone the next time we meet!’

‘Yerin, do you want to play as an apostle of justice? Do you want to cosplay as a good kid?’

‘Please wait as long as you want. and… , I will respect whatever choice you make.’

“… … .”

When I opened my eyes again… , It felt like something complicated disappeared and my mind became a little clearer.

Of course, I was only a participant.

But is there really nothing I can do here and now?

‘… no.’

I didn’t think so.

**

Finally, I took first place at the official ranking announcement ceremony.

Nevertheless, Yu Seol was not as happy as he expected.

This was because she knew very well that this was not an honorable ranking.

Of course, the entire current situation was intentional and done by her… .

‘More than I thought… .’

The production team was harsher than I thought… , the stones that the public threw at Seo Yu-jin were sharper than expected.

Because of this, Seo Yu-jin suffered deeper wounds than expected.

The moment I first saw Seo Yu-jin’s face on set… , Yoo Seol almost lost his mind due to guilt… .

‘… Wake.’

… I finally got my mind together.

however… .

‘… Last time, I misunderstood and said something strange… , sorry.’

Whether it was intentional or not, Ha Ye-rin pushed Yoo Seol’s mind, which she had barely managed to control, with a tractor.

From that moment on, Yu Seol could not hide the guilt that leaked out.

And she herself… .

‘… ‘It’s disgusting.’

… I thought it was disgusting.

Did you do this without knowing that something like this would happen?

… no.

Even though she knew that in the worst case scenario, things could end up like this, she did it.

… For your own ranking.

She had no right to feel guilty about her current situation.

As a result, her heart became even colder… , began to freeze more rationally.

‘… I just take the emotion out of it and just think about winning.’

Then, like a machine, he thoroughly designed the optimal team.

‘There’s nothing I can do now anyway.’

Broadcasting is a flow.

The way to survive in broadcasting was to ride the huge trend that makes up broadcasting… , The current flow of the broadcast was trampling on Seo Yu-jin.

If you don’t want to be trampled on together… , Instead of throwing yourself in front of the flow for no reason, you had to go with the flow or sit on the sidelines.

Yu Seol thinks so… , your feelings… , further killing humanity.

But that was then.

“Ugh… , ugh… … , right… .”

Finally, Seo Yu-jin bursts into tears… .

“… … .”

At that moment, Yoo Seol overlapped Seo Yu-jin’s image with her own past.

17 years old.

Due to my father’s accident, I couldn’t concentrate on practice and ended up being excluded from Tailrose’s debut group… .

‘ha… Wow… , hmm… .’

17-year-old Yoo Seol was left alone in the practice room, shedding tears.

… Just like Seo Yu-jin looks like now.

‘… ‘Don’t be fooled for no reason.’

At that time, Yu Seol desperately hoped that someone would reach out to her as she suffered alone.

‘… ‘I only think about my debut and Naaah’s victory.’

But no one approached her.

‘There’s nothing I can do anyway.’

At that time, other people also went with the trend and just stood by and watched the 17-year-old’s Yu Seol.

… It’s like Yu Seol is just looking at Seo Yu Jin.

“… Contestant Seo Yu-jin, please nominate.”

“… Well, I… , female, participant Yeo Hee-min… Wow… , I will nominate you.”

“… Yeo Hee-min has been nominated as a participant. Would you like to accept it?”

“… I’m really sorry. … I will refuse.”

“… Contestant Seo Yu-jin failed to be nominated. The opportunity moves on to the next order.”

In the end, Seo Yu-jin failed in the 6th nomination.

As soon as Yoo Seol saw that scene, he felt like he was in tears… .

Sigh-.

… Finally, I turned my head.

‘… ah.’

Yu Seol is at that moment… , It’s not that I turned away from Seo Yu-jin… , I felt as if I had forgotten my past self.

I had to cry alone and sadly… , that girl from the past.

‘… iced coffee.’

Then Yu Seol seemed to have PTSD… , I felt the emotions of the past vividly.

Even if I think about it again now… , I felt really lonely and lonely.

Someone’s touch… , so desperately… .

‘Someone… .’

Seo Yujin… .

A rumor… .

It was then.

“… I will nominate participant Seo Yu-jin.”

“… … !”

I looked up and heard a sound I couldn’t understand… , Ha Ye-rin was holding the microphone with a calm expression.

‘… What the.’

… What does it mean for a leader to select the leader of another team?

No, other than that… , that anyone would pick Seo Yu-jin for the team, as the harm is much greater than the benefit… ?

Ha Ye-rin’s sudden declaration caused Yoo Seol, Na Hanna, Lee Hye-jeong, Park Yoo-jung, Han Si-woo, and even the production crew and the new PD… .

He looked like he couldn’t understand.

but… .

“… yes? Yerin, what is that… .”

“Oh, shall I say it again? I will nominate participant Seo Yu-jin.”

… Ha Ye-rin just nominated Seo Yu-jin with her usual blank expression, as if nothing had happened.

“… … .”

“… … .”

What should I do with this current situation? , the broadcast went into a lull for a moment.

And in the meantime… .

dump.

“Hmm… , Hueeng… .”

“… … .”

Still, Seo Yu-jin, who had been holding on to her seat, collapsed into her seat… .

“ Huh ahhh .”

The set was filled with child-like cries, along with tears pouring down like a waterfall.