Surviving in the Idol Game - Chapter 72

“Huh? What are you doing? Why are you grabbing someone by the collar?”

 

All eyes were on Song Ahseong, who was pushing through the crowd in the middle of the stairs and had moved in the opposite direction. The voice of someone who was yelling as if feeling wronged was familiar. Jang Seonwoo.

 

“You elbowed Hanhee hyung right in his injured side, right?”

 

Song Ahseong’s voice was low and intense, like a hunting dog. Jang Seonwoo, brushing off his hand in disbelief, shook his head.

 

“No… I was pushed by people too. Do you really think I did it on purpose?”

 

“I saw you target him clearly, and you’re still saying you got pushed?”

 

‘How could someone accidentally elbow a person’s side? Come up with a better excuse’, Song Ahseong’s sharp words cut through the air, his voice fierce.

 

The stairs were not particularly wide. According to Song Ahseong, while people were moving around and blocking the view, Jang Seonwoo took the opportunity to jab his elbow into my wound.

 

“You’re saying he aimed for it?”

 

I remembered that Jang Seonwoo had been way behind us. Han Sangjin, who had already come down the stairs, asked Jang Seonwoo, his expression uncertain. Those two had been in the Rose Team before.

 

“No, hyung. I am telling you, it was a mistake. I got pushed.”

 

“It wasn’t a mistake. Why do you keep lying?”

 

Song Ahseong didn’t seem like he had any intention of letting Jang Seonwoo get away with his excuses. Realizing the situation was turning against him, Jang Seonwoo started asking the people coming down behind him.

 

“Hey, you saw me stumble too. Right?”

 

“Huh? Uh-huh. I saw it, but…”

 

Clearly not wanting to get involved, the other person’s response was hesitant. Jang Seonwoo’s voice grew louder, filled with resentment.

 

“I am telling you, I got pushed too, so I was trying to maintain my balance!”

 

And the resentment soon turned into anger.

 

“Ha, why am I being treated like this? Just because you’re ranked higher, does that mean you can treat people however you want?”

 

“You’re getting treated like this because of what you did.”

 

“What? This? Seriously… Did anyone else besides you see it? There were none. How do I know you’re not just making things up to frame me? Should I just accept your word as truth? Why are you even getting involved in someone else’s team’s business?”

 

Jang Seonwoo’s speech became faster as he got frustrated. He was really angry and lashing out, but Song Ahseong’s expression didn’t change as he listened. He just looked at Jang Seonwoo with a cold gaze and asked.

 

“This isn’t about your team or mine. What benefit would I get from framing you? I don’t even know you well.”

 

Jang Seonwoo’s expression distorted at the suspicious looks directed at him.

 

“Does he think he’s that important?”

 

“To be more precise, he’s not worth worrying about. Pitiful, really. My heart breaks for him.”

 

Overhearing some onlookers making snide remarks as if watching a movie, Jang Seonwoo clenched his teeth and glared at me, only to quickly shift his gaze when our eyes met.

 

When I followed his gaze, I saw that Song Ahseong was still staring at him with a chilling look.

 

“Judging from the way you’re beating around the bush and evading the subject, it seems like you have no intention of admitting it, but that’s okay. I’ll tell the production team.”

 

Song Ahseong turned decisively, showing no intention of listening further, and Jang Seonwoo reached out to stop him.

 

“No, I’m telling you, it was a mistake!”

 

He would hurt someone if he kept that up. Just before Jang Seonwoo’s hurried hand could reach Song Ahseong, his body was suddenly pulled back. Han Sangjin, who had been watching from behind, had firmly grabbed Jang Seonwoo’s outstretched arm.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“No, I was just trying to grab him…”

 

Shrinking away, Jang Seonwoo stammered. Song Ahseong, who was watching him, clicked his tongue. For a moment, everything went still. Then a calm voice spoke from above.

 

“Even if it was a mistake, someone clearly got injured, but you didn’t even apologize.”

 

It was not like him to interfere. When Kwon Doha spoke with a serious expression, Jang Seonwoo’s face turned sour. The people glaring at him nearby also had harsh expressions.

 

As Jang Seonwoo bit his lip at their disapproving reactions, an unfamiliar voice came from below.

 

“Hey, participants. What are you doing here? You have to move quickly!”

 

It seemed the staff had come to get us after waiting too long for the participants to show up.

 

“Can you walk?”

 

Han Sangjin, who had been holding onto Jang Seonwoo, let go and approached me. Seeing me leaning against the railing, observing the situation, he seemed to mistakenly think I couldn’t move due to pain. His expression was serious, as if he was about to fetch a stretcher. I quickly stopped him before he could take a step.

 

“I am fine. Just give me a hand.”

 

I said it to stop Han Sangjin, but Nam Hyesung, who had been nervously pacing around and mumbling about whether I needed to go to the medical office, quickly stretched out his arm. He offered it to help me down the stairs.

 

“…”

 

His arm looked as thin as a twig. Did this kid even eat properly?

 

“I’ll do it.”

 

Han Sangjin naturally extended his arm. Gratefully, I took his arm and we started down the stairs. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt even if I just went down, but I slowed down because there were people watching.

 

Nam Hyesung looked at Han Sangjin and looked at his own arm alternately from the side, and then said sullenly.

 

“I’ll grow taller…”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I’ll build muscles too…”

 

“Good for you.”

 

Even as he was whining, his hand was shaking. He must have heard that I had gotten injured, but he probably hadn’t seen it and no one told him the exact situation, so he probably hadn’t known how badly I had gotten injured. It was just a guess but he must have been really surprised when I suddenly started bleeding.

 

“If you want to grow taller, you should go to bed early.”

 

At 15 years old, he was at the prime age for growth, so he needed to sleep well. He often stayed up late practicing, which wouldn’t help his height at all.

 

As I nagged at him while we walked, his nervousness eased, and his face, which had been sullen, relaxed a little.

 

“I’ll get taller than you, hyung.”

 

Me? The last time I checked, I was 181 cm, and I could probably grow to around 183 cm at this rate. So he wanted to be taller than that?

 

“You’re not even 170 cm yet, are you? You’ve got big dreams….”

 

Of course, he was still only a middle schooler with plenty of room to grow, but I teased him anyway. As expected, he immediately reacted.

 

“I’m just a little under!”

 

His voice was firm as he insisted that if we rounded up the decimal point, his height was 170. He must have been so absorbed in the talk about height that his hands didn’t even shake anymore.

 

After shaking off the people who were trying to follow, the three of us arrived at the infirmary. The doctor was shocked to see the wound bleeding. Just that morning, he’d reassured me I was healing well, and now, only a few hours later, here I was.

 

“Thankfully, it doesn’t need stitches, but you really shouldn’t move around so much. You can’t aggravate the wound anymore.”

 

The doctor cleaned up the blood and examined the wound, sighing heavily as he gave stern instructions. Though he seemed to be addressing those around me rather than me directly.

 

His expression suggested he wanted to have me lie down and rest all day, but I stood up firmly. There was no time to just lie around with a small wound like this.

 

I took some painkillers to reassure myself and returned to the filming location. Thanks to Nam Hyesung, who had gone ahead to explain the situation, there were no questions about why I was late or what I had been doing.

 

“How’s your injury, Hanhee?”

 

A staff member came over to check my condition, and I assured them I was fine. While I was listening to the instructions for the shoot, Han Sangjin was whisked away to get his hair and makeup done. There were 42 of us, and everyone was busy fixing their hair and applying makeup.

 

“Please go change your clothes over here.”

 

A polite, formal tone. I followed their direction to change out of my blood-stained clothes into a fresh shirt.

 

The uniform provided by the program was a moderately refreshing sky blue short-sleeved T-shirt, but many people wore layers of clothes underneath. I originally wore a white T-shirt underneath, but today, both were soaked in blood, so I had no choice but to wear only the sky blue T-shirt that was provided as an extra.

 

Strangely, the size didn’t fit. The loose neck made me feel a little exposed.

 

As soon as I stepped out, awkwardly touching my collarbone and the exposed neck area, I was immediately taken away and had my hair washed first. After receiving a skilled shampoo and scalp massage, I moved to the mirror in a daze.

 

The stylist blow-dried my hair and neatly fixed it, clipping my bangs with a hairpin. My face in the mirror looked smooth and clean, almost like a polished egg. I had used a skin-care voucher the night before, knowing today was a live broadcast.

 

‘Does the skin-care voucher work on wounds too?’

 

Thinking back to how well I had healed earlier, I wondered if the voucher might have helped with my back injury too. It hadn’t worked on bruises, but…

 

‘Maybe cuts and scrapes are different.’

 

If so, wasn’t this a more useful item than I thought? How many skincare coupons did I have? I probably had about 15 left.

 

I must have looked happy, because the makeup artist asked me if something good had happened. I darted my eyes, then said I was excited about the live broadcast as I closed my eyes, feeling the brush gently stroke across my lids.

 

“Oh wow. Your skin is amazing. The makeup sticks so well.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

As I sat there, absentmindedly getting my makeup done, I noticed a camera filming me through the mirror. Now that I thought about it, there were lights hanging down here too.

 

Suddenly, I became curious. Would anyone actually be interested in watching this process? But since they were filming it, someone must be, right?

 

It was definitely fascinating how the slightest change occurred every time their hands moved in a short period of time. Was this what they watched for fun? As I was curiously looking at myself through the mirror, before I knew it, my makeup was done.

 

And then the makeup artist, who had done makeup, smiled proudly and our eyes met through the mirror.

 

“Hmm, looks good. Hanhee, when you debut, you should definitely film a ‘Get Ready With Me.'”

 

She added that it would be fun because the before-and-after difference was noticeable, even though I already looked good. I laughed awkwardly. ‘Get Ready With Me’? Was it where they showed the makeup process?

 

Thinking about it now, the camera did look expensive. Maybe they were trying to capture more footage for later.

 

Since they said it was pre-recorded, I thought it would be another crazy, intense content with lots of running and fighting. But it turned out to be content where we just sit and watch—it was quite fresh.

 

As I sat there, feeling like I had become the main character of a doll play, time quickly flew by, and it was already 2:30 p.m. With the live broadcast starting at 3, there were only 30 minutes left.

 

After finishing their turn with makeup, the participants, with hair clips still attached, gathered and sat close together.

 

“Hyung, are you okay? How’s the pain? Does it hurt a lot? Is it okay to sit down here?”

 

Woo Cheonghee, who had been waiting in his seat after getting ready, bombarded me with questions as soon as he saw me. He had a worried look on his face, asking if the wound was okay.

 

“Who intentionally films someone with an injury? Who does that?”

 

Thinking back to how short the warning interval was, it was possible it had been a genuine mistake, but honestly, whether it was intentional or not, I didn’t really want to waste energy dwelling on it or getting involved.

 

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

 

However, even though I added that I had taken some painkillers and that it didn’t really hurt, Woo Cheonghee’s face didn’t brighten up. 

 

In fact, he seemed to grow even paler as time passed.

 

“What else are you worried about?”

 

I asked since he seemed anxious, his hands fidgeting restlessly. He jumped slightly at my question.

 

“It’s…”

 

Dragging his words, his eyebrows lowered as his eyes darted around.

 

“What is it?”

 

“What if I can’t complete any of the missions and the broadcast ends in a minute…”

 

We knew that the live broadcast would keep extending if we cleared the missions given by the production team, but we had no idea what the missions would actually be.

 

His face showed how disheartened he was, saying he didn’t feel confident being thrown into this without any preparation. He admitted he’d messed up before when jumping into things without proper planning.

 

“Everyone’s in the same boat. I don’t want to whine, but I really don’t feel confident about this.”

 

While it might seem surprising, Woo Cheonghee was actually the type to practice thoroughly. He felt at ease that way.

 

His face was full of concern, saying that this kind of spontaneous live broadcast didn’t suit his nature.

 

“No, you’re good at this kind of thing. I’ve seen it.”

 

“Huh? Me? When?”

 

“When you sang at the Han River.”

 

When I mentioned that, Woo Cheonghee, who had been waving his hand in denial, suddenly paused. He might be a little scared now, but once he got started, he’d do well.

 

The impromptu live performance by the Han River. Even though it was thrown together without any prior notice, he still did such a great job.

 

“Have confidence. If you’re frozen up before you even start, it won’t work.”

 

Woo Cheonghee nodded cautiously, his eyes wide open. If memories of failure were scary, we could just cover them up with good memories.

 

“By the way, when are we going to take these clips out of our hair?”

 

“Oh, they’re just to keep our hair in place, so I guess we’ll take them off right before filming?”

 

The expressions on our faces lightened up.