Chapter 114

Chapter 114

What’s this about us winning the rookie award? I thought I could guess at what this was about, but I clicked on the post, anyway.

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[It doesn’t seem right for TeSTAR to get a Rookie of the Year award. What’s your opinion?]

: They’re not new idols who debuted normally. They’re just an extension of Idol Inc., in my opinion. An entertainment project, so to speak. They’re taking any chance other new groups have at winning.

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I knew it. I was expecting something like this would happen. People had said something similar when our promotional cycle had overlapped with VTIC’s, complaining that we were ruining the ecosystem or something like that.

Frankly, I could kind of see where they were coming from. Idol Inc. was a massive hit, after all. Since we’d debuted on the back of such a successful audition show, it wasn’t surprising that some people thought our popularity was the result of a broadcaster or big corporation’s tyranny.

I was a little offended, though, since the contestants had suffered through an awful lot filming the show, and even the company and staff behind Season 3 had considered it to be a lost cause at first.

This opinion isn’t so popular that it’s going to have any impact on our chances. I could see in the comments that OP never really stood a chance.

- The show was about auditioning to be an idol. What bullsh*t is this?

└ That’s why it’s even more unfair, isn’t it?

└ What do you mean, unfair? You’re talking as though an idol audition show is against the law or something. LOL

- I was in the middle of writing up a long response, but first I gotta know. Is this a troll post?

- Do you know how many idols debuted from an audition show? Did they all cheat, then? LOL. I’ve been seeing people saying some weird sh*t lately, maybe it’s because of how successful Idol Inc. was

- You must be a fan of some idol group that won’t be getting a Rookie of the Year award this year. Poor you!

- I’m of the opinion that Idol Inc. isn’t entirely ethical, but that doesn’t have anything to do with TeSTAR

- You’re taking this too far

The remaining comments were all openly mocking.

Hmm. I don’t love this vibe either though. It was a troll post, that much was true, but the problem was there were more than a few comments belittling other new idol groups that had debuted this year. They didn’t seem to be TeSTAR fans necessarily, just random people on the internet who got a kick out of making fun of others.

- The best-performing idols that debuted this year barely sold eighty thousand... LOL

└ LOL there’s no comparison

└ Kind of silly to be griping about the Rookie of the Year award with those numbers haha. I feel embarrassed for you

But it’s not good for us if conflict springs up with fans of other groups that debuted this year, though. I was a little bothered, but it wasn’t a massive problem. The post didn’t get enough attention to reach the trending page and TeSTAR’s sales weren’t so insignificant that such a post would have any impact on our award chances.

I shrugged and navigated to a different page. I didn’t worry anymore about the Rookie of the Year award until the week after that when we started practicing for the end-of-year performances in earnest.

***

The mirror in the choreography room was fogging over.

“Let’s take a break—phew—and go again!”

“Oh god...”

“I’m dying...”

If Eugene was saying this, then no explanation was needed for the state the others found themselves in.

Not that it’s surprising that Eugene is having the hardest time. Cha Eugene’s solo choreography was the longest in the song we were currently practicing. There was even a segment in the middle where he was raised above the stage... with the only drawback being that it was extremely taxing on him physically.

“Want some water?” I asked.

“Yes...”

In the process of getting some water myself, I tossed him a bottle.

“Me too, please...” Bae Sejin said.

“Have mercy, Moondae...” Big Sejin gasped.

I chucked a bottle at both of them and silence fell in the room for a moment. Everyone was busy gulping down water.

Only after we’d caught our breath did Ahyeon say cautiously, “S-so... I think it’s g-going to b-be good.”

“Yeah.”

“If the cameramen do their job properly, it’ll be great,” Raebin said, earning snickers from several members. He seemed confused as to why they were laughing.

He’s so unintentionally hilarious. Chuckling to myself, I picked up my phone. I planned to use our brief break to check the polls for the annual awards.

A manager came in with two carriers full of drinks, however, and so I immediately lost interest in my phone.

“Bro!”

“Coffee!”

“Thanks for bringing iced coffee...”

The manager handed us the drinks and said, “No problem... How is practice coming along?”

“It’s great!”

“If we keep it up, we’ll do fine at the ceremonies,” Chungwoo said, speaking for everyone.

“Hmm, that’s great! Sit down for a moment, guys.”

Chungwoo seemed a little confused, but he soon called everyone over.

“What is it?”

“Is something... being added to our schedule?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Hmm...” The manager looked troubled. He hesitated for several moments, then said in a grave tone, “An article will go up tomorrow. One about ‘Idol Inc.’ Tnet did their best to stop it, but it didn’t work out. We’re getting ready to counter with articles sharing our side of the story, so there’s no need to worry much anyway.”

“What is this article about?”

“Oh, it’s this stupid rumor about how participants were cast in the show. We have all the necessary documentation to rebut, so it’ll be fine. They seem to be targeting you in particular, Chungwoo, so don’t be surprised.”

I barely bit back a groan.

So it finally came out. Why now, of all times? This was one hundred percent controversy about his relation to one of the writers.

The writer kept quiet about it, so I’d hoped things would be fine for at least a year. Apparently, people had gone sniffing around because we were doing so well.

Chungwoo had likely seen this coming as well, and though he wore a dark look on his face, he didn’t look confused. “Do I need to speak with anyone?” he asked cautiously.

“Not that I know of... one second.” The manager looked confused as he left the room to take a phone call.

Naturally, a grim mood fell over the members. Adrenaline had worked to diminish our fatigue after practicing for so long, but it now fizzled out after receiving this news.

Big Sejin asked, sounding serious, “Hey, I know you’re probably tired, but could you give us a simple explanation of what’s going on?”

“Of course.”

Chungwoo repeated the same story he’d told me the night we’d drunk together back at the dorm. Simply put, the writer was a distant relative of his and had gotten in touch about joining the show during a large family gathering. They hardly knew each other.

Most of the members seemed relieved, all of them probably thinking that a reasonable explanation would be enough to put an end to the drama.

“So you don’t really know each other at all,” Big Sejin said.

“Yes. I don’t think this will become a huge issue once we explain things.” Chungwoo still looked slightly bitter. “I’m sorry this came up at an important time like this.”

“I-it’s okay! D-don’t worry...” Ahyeon reassured.

“It’s already happened, so there’s no helping it, I guess! Let’s hope for the best!”

“If you’re apologizing for something like this happening, then I should have left the group already,” Bae Sejin offered quietly.

Even the dour Bae Sejin was learning to laugh at himself.

“That’s true!” Eugene chimed in cheerfully.

“Hey!” Bae Sejin said, looking indignant.

“Haha!”

The members laughed, and the tension eased a little.

“Worrying about this won’t change anything. Why don’t we keep practicing?” Big Sejin suggested.

“Good call,” Raebin replied.

The manager looked taken aback when he returned after his call and found us practicing again, but he left wearing a relieved expression on his face.

By the time practice was over we all collapsed into our beds and fell asleep, too tired to think about it. The articles exploded across the internet the next morning.

[TeSTAR’s Ryu Chungwoo is related to a writer from Idol Inc.]

[The uncomfortable truth behind audition shows. Did TeSTAR cheat using nepotism?]

[TeSTAR debuted through Idol Inc. But Ryu Chungwoo, the archery medalist, was related to a writer on the show.]

They said exactly what we’d expected them to. Since the articles were uploaded to the social category across news websites, they were instantly inundated with opinions.

“Don’t look at the comments,” I ordered firmly.

“Okay...” Chungwoo replied, looking worried. “The fans are going to have a hard time, aren’t they?”

None of us had anything to say to this. Thankfully, articles rebutting the false claims went up immediately after.

[“The writer, a relative? Ryu Chungwoo had never met that person before,” says T1 Stars]

[Writer from Idol Inc. was so far removed from Ryu Chungwoo that they can’t be called relatives.]

Normally in these sorts of situations, denials of the accusations usually don’t get a lot of attention. This time, however, their response came quickly. Ryu Chungwoo had great public standing, so the articles rose to the top across various portal news sites.

The fans played a huge part in this as well, of course.

- The writer obviously went to the clan gathering to try and get in contact with Ryu Chungwoo somehow. Looks like the writer lucked out and Ryu Chungwoo was just duped by the show LOL (11026 1501)

- Anyone past a third cousin once removed isn’t even a relative. I hear they were way more distantly related than that (8490 422)

- LOL, seriously? This sounds like a sad attempt to nitpick. I’d have tried to cast a former national athlete too, if I had the chance (6178 759)

Most of the TeSTAR fans accepted the explanation, and public outrage seemed to settle down quickly. The agency’s Media Relations Team got in contact with us as well.

“Seems like this isn’t going to be an ongoing problem. Even so, please stay off social media for the time being, Chungwoo.”

“All right, thank you.” Chungwoo looked relieved, but also a little upset that he wouldn’t be able to apologize to his fans or thank them.

I withheld a sigh. I guess I shouldn’t tell him this.

In truth, I’d noticed that public opinion hadn’t completely returned to normal.

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[Am I the only one who still feels uncomfortable after reading Ryu Chungwoo’s defense?]

: The show portrayed Ryu Chungwoo so positively, even though he’s claiming they’re basically strangers. I don’t think it’s fair that he got to join the show without taking part in the preliminaries. Who knows what secret deal went down when he was cast?

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- I 100% agree with the OP

- Hold on, Ryu Chungwoo was asked to join the show when everyone thought the third season would flop... Isn’t accusing him like this taking things a bit too far?

└ Ryu Chungwoo continued to get a ton of screen time even after Idol Inc. began to grow popular. Don’t you think it’s odd that they kept painting him as the unfortunate leader?

- I guess it can’t be helped that some people are just suspicious

- I had a weird feeling about a former national athlete being on the show from the start. People are finally starting to notice

- Cast? LOL. They probably promised him he’d make it to the final round no matter what. God, this is annoying. Some of the contestants didn’t even get much screen time, but Ryu Chungwoo got cast without even passing a test?

The suspicion and criticism only grew worse and worse, until the negative sentiment turned against TeSTAR as a whole.

- Frankly, I don’t really like the other members, either... but I’ll shut up. I’m scared of the fans LOL

└ I’ll say it for you! It wasn’t just Ryu Chungwoo. The entire debut group benefited from good editing!

└ Man, I needed to hear this

└ The fans are going to lose it

└ Let me guess what they’ll say: “So and so didn’t get good editing! They didn’t even get much screen time!”

└ LOL this.

└ They made up for any bad edits they got in early eps later. This whole thing is a ruse. I hate the idols and their fans...

This sort of talk wasn’t dominant, of course, and it didn’t last long before disappearing entirely. Most people were of the opinion that it was too overly critical.

The agency seemed to think people would soon be distracted when some other controversy cropped up and focused their attention on spreading their corrections through the major press agencies. As such, those who were suspicious of TeSTAR’s legitimacy took a reluctant seat in the background, looming ominously.

It didn’t take long for posts like the following to start appearing.

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[About the Rookie of the Year award and TeSTAR...]

: They’ll probably win Most Popular Artist and Best Album, but I wish they’d give the Rookie of the Year awards to someone else T_T I pity the artists who were robbed.

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In a diversion from what happened the last time this was argued, a good few people now actively supported this opinion.