The curtain rose on the long journey that the eleven contestants, now called the TOP 11, would create.
Because it was the first live broadcast, people gathered in front of their TVs as airtime approached.
“This is insane….”
Hyun-ah and her friends also got together at her house to watch K-Singer Star.
“There are just too many good singers in the world.”
“Right, how can they all sing that well?”
“Judging from the stages alone, they are basically already professionals.”
While they munched on the mountain of late-night snacks they had ordered, each girl added a comment about every performance.
“I don’t like Lee Yuju’s expression.”
“She is already getting discussions about her attitude.”
“But she is pretty, I admit that, and she sings fairly well.”
Because real-time viewer voting was counted from this round on, they judged the stages more strictly.
“Ah, Kim Minji’s stage was disappointing today.”
“Yes. She sounded unstable.”
“You too? I kept feeling nervous while listening.”
Hyun-ah nodded in agreement.
“Maybe she was in bad condition.”
Although they were no experts, they could at least tell whether a stage was good or bad.
“Oh, it looks like it is Yoon Jaeyi’s turn. I am really looking forward to this.”
“She definitely deserves to be in the TOP 11.”
“Yeah, she keeps getting better and better.”
When the stage started, they all stopped moving their chopsticks and fixed their eyes on the screen.
The house filled with only Yoon Jaeyi’s voice coming from the TV.
They did not even breathe, concentrating on that absorbing sound.
“Sniff.”
Once in a while a friend with rich emotions sniffled, trying not to cry.
“Wow….”
When Yoon Jaeyi’s voice swept across the room and fell silent, everyone exhaled and let out sighs of admiration.
“Crazy, crazy, crazy, it is so freaking good….”
“Hic, sniff, I am sad….”
“For some reason her songs make me hold my breath.”
The camera switched to the judges’ table.
“Eek, HS is picking up the mic, he is picking it up!”
“Even his voice is good….”
“But when is he ever going to take off that helmet?”
When her brother’s name was mentioned, Hyun-ah felt embarrassed, stuffed a piece of tteok-bokki in her mouth and chewed.
“Mm, tasty…”
Pretending indifference, she glanced sideways at the TV.
The man who sat grandly in the judges’ row wearing that helmet was her own blood brother, the composer HS and a judge on K-Singer Star.
Just seeing her brother, a familiar face, appear as a TV celebrity was strange enough.
Well-built shoulders, handsome face, chic suit, impeccable posture.
When he at last pressed the button and raised his mic,
“I enjoyed it. Thank you for your work.”
He said only that short, lukewarm line, yet the contestant bowed over and over in thanks. How odd.
Right then,
“Ah, seriously….”
The friend who had burned through a whole box of tissues finally calmed down and spoke.
“I could die happy if HS would raise that helmet just once, even for a few seconds.”
Because it was a gathering of girls, her remark became a spark that set off noisy chatter about HS.
“Exactly! He ought to take it off once. Start a national petition!”
“Shouldn’t we post on the network bulletin instead?”
“Good idea. I’ll do it right after the show!”
Holding her head, Hyun-ah groaned.
Girls, please….
Not only was it embarrassing because HS was her brother, but she knew he would never reveal his face like that.
They would be disappointed.
Especially since her friends were hardcore members of the god-HS fan café, saying they watched the program only in hopes of seeing his face.
Would they start badmouthing him later?
She poked the spicy rice cakes with her chopsticks, flustered.
Why is everyone so curious about my brother’s face…?
She also browsed community posts every day, and lately there were many complaints about him appearing without ever showing his face.
“Hey, Hyun-ah, aren’t you curious about your brother’s face?”
“My brother’s face…?”
They could only mean her real brother’s face, which she had seen all her life, so what was there to be curious about?
But if she told the truth, her fan-obsessed friends would interrogate her.
“Well, I’m curious…?”
“Yet whenever HS comes up, you go silent.”
“Me? I do?”
“Yes, you. You suddenly clam up.”
Breaking into cold sweat at the sharp question, she was saved when another friend shouted,
“Hey, hey! Kang Hajun is on!”
“Wow, today he looks like a real vampire prince.”
“Yeah, his face is working overtime.”
“First live show, he must have sharpened his knife.”
Not only her friends, even she stared blankly at his face.
Maybe I really am a timid fan….
Though she never showed it, these days she was completely captivated by Kang Hajun.
Hajun-oppa, fighting!
As his stage began, she cheered fervently inside.
It felt like watching his debut stage, with lavish lighting and dancers.
Those dance lines were crazy…
Pressing her hands together, she watched him fill the stage.
My oppa, be number one, do it, do everything you want.
She even cast her text votes so she would not forget.
Clap-clap!
When the stage ended she found herself applauding and quickly set her hands down, embarrassed.
“Wow! Ah… ahem.”
“So our Hyun-ah is a Hajun fan, not an HS fan?”
“No, no, I’m an HS fan.”
“Don’t deny it. Honestly I understand, if it’s Hajun I’ll let you go.”
A friend patted her shoulder and told her to like him as much as she wished; her cheeks turned red like ripe persimmons.
On screen, Hajun panted yet kept a bright smile while receiving generally positive evaluations.
But when her brother lifted the mic,
“In this stage the ratio of performance was too high, the vocals did not stand out. I think your ambition was excessive.”
Hajun’s expression sank like a scolded puppy.
Why is my brother’s personality like that? Can’t he say it nicely?
I honestly hate my brother most in the whole world.
She almost texted him a complaint, then paused. No.
She had recently realized what kind of life her brother lived. And his ears were proven superior many times.
Bro must be right.
She deleted the draft and opened an internet browser. The live stream must already be exploding.
Luckily there were no bad posts about HS. Instead, comments about each stage filled the pages.
She clicked one titled with her current biggest interest, Kang Hajun.
“Hajun’s hair and make-up coordination is perfect tonight. He is a vampire stew; stage manners, performance, eye contact, all like a veteran idol. Where has this monster been hiding?”
Scroll, scroll.
↳ Hey, clip of Hajun is already on NewTube, that was fast, let’s loop it forever.
↳ Frankly, as HS said it was too performance-heavy so hard to judge vocals.
↳ His vocal ability is proven anyway, what matters is variety on stage.
↳ Whatever, he is handsome so that is jackpot lol, but did you vote?
↳ Of course. The moment the show started I used my family’s phones.
Smiling in satisfaction, she put down the phone.
On TV the TOP 11 stood on stage.
“We are about to announce the qualifiers for the TOP 8. I am sure your feelings are complicated….”
The MC spoke loudly while the contestants waited with tense faces.
“Guys, who do you think will rank first tonight?”
“Well, I heard the overall winner is said to be Hajun anyway?”
“That is overall. I mean just tonight.”
“Didn’t DIA-G choose a good song?”
“I thought Lee Yuju showed a new side.”
Voices overlapped.
“I liked Hajun’s stage, felt like a musical.”
“Eh? But Yoon Jaeyi’s was the most touching.”
“Yes, Hajun and Jaeyi were the best.”
Too many captains drive the boat up a mountain.
“Hey, let’s try to get tickets as audience. I want to hear them for real.”
“I checked; all finals are sold out. Scalped tickets are crazy expensive.”
“It must be popular. How much are scalps? I get my part-time pay soon….”
They chatted about ticket prices until a countdown appeared onscreen: five seconds left to vote closing.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
“Real-time voting has ended.”
They fell silent and stared.
“Scores from the vote and the judges will be combined. Only ranks one to eight will advance.”
Hyun-ah pressed her hands and prayed like Hajun were her own brother.
God, Buddha, Allah, ancestors…. I will clean my room, be a good daughter, do good deeds.
Just then:
“Now we will announce the TOP 11 results.”
Tension grew.
“We will reveal eighth place first.”
Why?
“The one who takes eighth place and moves on is…!”
A sudden sense of dread fell over her.
Usually such feelings never missed, just like now.
…
“The result will be revealed in sixty seconds.”
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