"'No matter how I look at it, this is my aunt’s scheme to koroshi us....'"

"Hey! The mic is picking you up right now, so don’t use words like that!"

"In a global era, can’t I use a little Japanese? We’ve even got a Japanese member on the team."

"Yeah, this is racism!"

After Seo Ryujin attacked me and got hit by Yuri’s racism counterattack instead, leaving Ryujin going, "Uh—uh—," I looked around for Deoksu Kim, 33rd descendant, who had to be ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) watching us from somewhere.

Swish.

Sure enough, standing next to the camera director, grinning as she watched us, was my aunt—and the program’s PD—Kim Miyoung.

'If this weren’t a broadcast, I would’ve sprinted over and punished her on the spot....'

I wasn’t saying that for no reason.

-Starting this week, the seats you’ll be waiting in have been changed a little!

After finishing the program’s opening ment, Jang Junseok looked at us and revealed the new waiting seats.

-What is...that?

Not only us in Iam, but the members of LYNX and VYNNIA also couldn’t help being flustered at the shocking sight.

-For the Iam members who took first place in the first competition, you’ll sit in the topmost seats, and for VYNNIA and LYNX, who took second and third, you’ll sit in the lower seats!

The newly revealed pyramid-shaped waiting seats.

Because the waiting seats were made of three tiers, the decorations were different by level.

The bottom tier was just a plain waiting bench with no decorations at all, but starting from the second tier, it had a more decorated, upscale look.

The problem was that the long-awaited third tier—where we in Iam, including me, were supposed to sit—was—

-This is so embarrassing...

-Can’t we just sit on the bottom tier?

-This isn’t a first-place reward, it’s a punishment, isn’t it?! 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

It was dressed up with gaudy decorations like something an ancient emperor would sit on, triggering internal shame.

The sight was like they’d taken the first-place seat Ryu Ayeon sat on back at the Idol Ground 100 Entrance Ceremony stage and multiplied it into seven.

[Let me stand in the sky]

(a screenshot of Iam sitting in the first-place seats)

⤷The unbearable vacancy of the heavenly throne!

⤷Where the hell do they even find decorations that tacky?

⤷To me, this is modern art mocking Korea’s rank-obsession

⤷The first-place seat you picked lmao they’re never changing it

⤷I didn’t pick it though?

⤷lmao if you’re mad, you should’ve just done better

It was obvious, like watching fire, that once footage of us sitting there aired, it would turn into a screenshot that got passed around communities as humiliation.

"Everyone, shut up for a second. The stage is about to start."

We’d been yapping about the seats, but at Ayeon’s comment that the stage was about to start, everyone stopped and focused on the stage.

From your toes to your gaze

I didn’t really pay attention

The moment I walked in

The air stops first

Today’s first stage belonged to LYNX.

And the song they chose was their direct seniors Anygirls’ "Watch me."

-Korea is in a Watch me craze!

Anygirls’ Watch me cover dances that had once been uploaded in swarms across all kinds of video sites that now only had traces left.

"I haven’t heard this song in forever."

"I know that song too!"

"Wasn’t that song from when you were still chirping like a baby chick?"

"Boss!"

It was Anygirls’ signature song that had once swept Korea—so much that even Im Yunkyung, our youngest, remembered it.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same.

Watch me, look at me

Now you see it

Watch me, look at me

Can’t ignore it

If the old Anygirls original was—put kindly—simple and easy enough for even kids to follow along, then LYNX’s choreography now, performing their reinterpretation, didn’t look easy to copy at all.

"They didn’t just make it hard for no reason. It matches the song really well."

"The arrangement is insanely polished too. They kept the hook part that leaves the biggest impression, but the verse and chorus parts feel like listening to American music."

Seo Ryujin and Geum Shinyu were giving their impressions with serious faces, like it wasn’t just me who felt that way.

"This is the Watch me Park Taesu originally planned."

"Huh?"

At Ayeon’s words—spoken while she quietly listened to everyone’s reactions—all eyes turned to her.

"Back when he was making this song, he always said it was his mistake."

"His mistake?"

I didn’t understand what she meant.

After this song, hook songs swept Korea for a while, and it sparked the girl group boom. He made a legendary song like that, and he regretted it?

But—

"He said he simplified Watch me instead of doing it exactly the way he envisioned, because he was worried Anygirls would have a hard time—no, to be exact, that they wouldn’t be able to handle it."

Only after hearing her explanation did I finally get why Taesu said it was a mistake.

"The stage LYNX is showing right now is probably Watch me exactly the way he planned it in the beginning."

Listening to her, I looked back at LYNX’s stage.

The timing you look away

A beat that speeds up for no reason

Even if I pretend I don’t know

The rhythm already follows me

'So this song was this hard.'

Watch me didn’t look like a hard song at first glance.

There weren’t any parts that demanded explosive vocal power, and the choreography wasn’t the kind that drains you with raw, overflowing energy once you’re done.

But that was exactly why it was hard.

On stage, usually you make your movements big, your expressions exaggerated, your energy overflowing.

That’s how you can leave a strong impact on the people watching.

But now—LYNX’s members were performing with choreography made up of small movements, restrained expressions, and even their strength let out at the end.

'They’re not convincing the audience. They’re making them notice.'

I could feel the audience’s reaction shifting—people who’d been watching LYNX’s stage without thinking much at first.

A stage that could look sloppy in an instant if even one person stuck out.

But on this stage LYNX was showing, the members were matching that subtle harmony, so it looked refined—and cool.

I understood exactly why Taesu gave up the stage he originally planned, and why he handed it to LYNX again.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this stage was born because Taesu, who produced Anygirls, used his past regret as a steppingstone and trusted LYNX’s members.

Thump-thump.

Heritage. We weren’t the only ones who had worried over how to express “idol history,” and then completed it.

Watching the stages like this, I could feel my heart pounding.

I wanted to see what kind of stage VYNNIA had prepared, and at the same time, the only thing on my mind was wanting to show the stage we prepared with our members to everyone already.

***

"Good expressions."

"The reactions are good too. If we just pull this as-is and use it as the stage reaction, it’s perfect, isn’t it?"

Miyoung nodded at the staff member’s words.

In a competition program like this, the flower was the stages and the reactions. And with the stages already coming out at overflowing quality, what was left was the reactions.

'Raon is fighting her ass off, but the judges are being cautious, so the reactions are lacking.'

She never expected variety reactions from CEO Seyoon in the first place, and she’d been counting on Park Taesu and Raon to give her usable reactions at least.

But even Taesu, who had plenty of variety experience, seemed to find it hard to act like it was just any other program when his own group was competing, so right now the only usable reactions were basically Raon pouring them out alone.

So she needed to at least pull reactions from the competing groups—but LYNX and VYNNIA were still awkward with variety, and they were only giving stiff, boring, textbook reactions, which was giving her a headache as a PD.

'As expected of my niece!'

What saved Miyoung was Iam, with her niece Lee Sion.

-As expected of our Kaella. You’re doing great.

-Why are you pretending you’re close with Kaella?

-We’re besties. You could say we shared a burning friendship?

-Please don’t have a bad influence on members of other groups!

From pointless TMI drops in the middle of the stage to serious evaluations of the rival team’s performance, Sion kept talking nonstop, so it looked like they’d have plenty of reaction cuts.

Of course, Miyoung was still grateful to VYNNIA and LYNX too, for bringing stages that could actually produce those reactions in the first place.

-Who came up with lifting your head right when the beat drops?

-We discussed it together and added it.

-It was so good. The fact that your gaze is already there before the camera catches you, and also the timing where you stop moving at the end of the choreography—those details are really not easy, but you nailed them perfectly.

-Thank you!

LYNX’s leader Esther answered with tears in her eyes, thanking Raon for her evaluation after the stage.

'If we even cut an interview shot and connect it, it feels like this episode’s main character is going to be LYNX.'

Miyoung had already looked over the footage they’d sent to TSP to film their practice process, so she was even tempted to set this episode’s “main character” as LYNX.

The solid faith between Taesu and LYNX.

It was an emotional mentor-disciple narrative that would absolutely land.

But VYNNIA wasn’t easy either.

-We are SY. And the stage we’re showing today—one we’re not ashamed of under the name SY—is our Heritage.

VYNNIA’s leader Kaella spoke her resolve with a solemn expression right before their stage started.

If you only heard it, it might sound arrogant, but VYNNIA proved it wasn’t arrogance—it was confidence, and faith in their own skill.

Whisper wish, say it now

It’ll come true before the stars

You don’t need hesitation

The answer you want is already mine

'WHISPER WISH.'

G.G’s signature song that announced they’d risen as Korea’s representative girl group—and also a song famous for being brutally difficult.

And for good reason: the knife-like group choreography of nine members moving like one body, and the whispering vocals, had the reputation that nobody but G.G could bring that feeling to life.

In fact, even now, people still talked about the incident where a girl group covered WHISPER WISH on a year-end stage, tried to imitate it awkwardly, and it became legendary humiliation.

But VYNNIA proved exactly why they were SY’s true-line girl group by pulling off that difficult song perfectly.

Between small breaths

A pounding sign

This moment right now

You can’t miss it

Especially when the main vocal, Irua, took the highlight and sang it, you couldn’t even hear breathing in the venue.

Choreography with not even a hair of error.

Vocals that didn’t shake.

And the most shocking part was that to have four people handle a stage that the original packed with nine, it felt like the difficulty—already hard—had doubled from vocals to choreography.

-This doesn’t make sense. This song is hard even with nine people singing it, and the group choreography is a huge part of it, so how did you prepare it this perfectly in such a short time?

-Hyeryeong helped us a lot.

-I used to watch G.G’s stages and think, This is something only G.G can do. Will a girl group like this ever come out again? But seeing today, I feel like we’ll be able to see it before long.

-Thank you!

It was a stage where you could understand why Taesu—TSP’s CEO and one of the judges—praised them so hard.

If LYNX showed a stage that implemented Taesu’s ideals that Anygirls couldn’t fully realize, then—

'It feels like kabuki.'

SY made Miyoung think of kabuki, Japan’s traditional theater.

One of kabuki’s defining traits was that roles were inherited from generation to generation within a family.

Because of that, in Japan there were even kabuki prestigious families, to the point families with short histories often got treated like nouveau riche.

And those kabuki families, to protect their history and tradition, had the obligation to put their children through elite training from a young age—not just kabuki practice, but classical dance, instruments, singing, acting, all across the board.

To Miyoung, SY was the kabuki prestigious family of the idol world.

An agency that picked only the best out of countless raw gems to create idol groups that met its standards, and then made them the best.

"Wow... this time, both agencies really went all-in."

"Seriously."

Miyoung agreed with the staff member watching the stages beside her.

No matter how much this program had been gaining popularity lately, even Miyoung, the planner, hadn’t expected stages of this level to come out of a competition show.

This was quality you wouldn’t begrudge even if it showed up on a year-end awards stage.

So right now, Miyoung’s head was a mess.

Normally, when you edited a program, the basics were to decide that episode’s main character and then stitch the story together around her.

But this time, she still couldn’t tell whether she should make LYNX the main character, or VYNNIA.

'Well, Iam is still left.'

Of course, the last stage—Iam’s turn—was still left, so Miyoung finished thinking that she’d watch that and then decide.

"Judging is finished up through LYNX’s stage. Then, now, we will introduce the final stage left."

As if he’d read Miyoung’s mind, the program’s main MC Jang Junseok began introducing Iam, the last act of this competition.

"Heritage, the theme of Three Kingdom’s second competition. LYNX chose Anygirls, VYNNIA chose G.G, and the Heritage main character chosen by Iam, who will present the last stage, is!"

Tap!

Before Junseok could even finish speaking, a single photo appeared on the screen installed behind the stage.

"The Queen of Asia—and now Iam’s producer, and a judge on Three Kingdom—Raon!"

Waaaaaah!

It was Raon’s profile photo.

'KJ Entertainment picked their theme well too.'

Looking at her photo, Miyoung let out an exclamation inwardly at KJ Entertainment’s bold decision.

TSP’s Anygirls. SY’s G.G.

Honestly, if you had to pick the greatest girl groups in Korean history, those two would be at the top without question—their symbolism was enormous.

So enormous that Iam’s status would pale no matter which girl group’s song they brought.

But Raon was a singer who didn’t lose to those two groups’ status—no, it wouldn’t be enough to say that; you could even call her above them.

For KJ Entertainment, which had no history, it was the best possible choice.

But—

Slide.

Miyoung turned her head and glanced toward the judges’ seats.

The judges were watching with expressions far more focused than they’d had for the stages before.

If you want to wear the crown, endure its weight.

Raon could give Iam a status beyond Anygirls and G.G, but if they couldn’t digest it properly, it was obvious it would turn into a bad thing instead.

Miyoung was curious whether Iam could endure the crown called Raon—maybe the heaviest crown in Korea.