Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

“Hyung, do you happen to know where Gyeol-hyung’s room is?”

After our late dinner, as we were heading back to the room, I asked Yohan-hyung about the whereabouts of Seo Mungyeol, given that they were both from Seed Entertainment.

He immediately replied with room 303, without any hesitation or doubt.

“…You didn’t memorize every room assignment, did you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Jing Xiao, who seemed tired, yawned and asked,

“Gyeol? Who’s that?”

“You know, the handsome guy who came out with Yohan-hyung from Seed Entertainment. The one who raps. Seo Mungyeol.”

At my words, Kim Junwu remembered who he was and chimed in.

“Ah, that handsome guy. Are you close enough to shorten his name to Gyeol already?”

“What are you talking about? His name is Gyeol, so I call him Gyeol.”

Kim Junwu and I exchanged puzzled glances.

Ban Yohan, who had listened to our conversation, chuckled and explained.

“His last name is Seomun. His first name is Gyeol.”

“Ah, wow. That’s really unique. His last name has two characters and his first name is only one?[1] It’s like a character setting from a novel.”

His visual totally fits the male lead of a novel.

“But how did you know that? The mentors called him Mungyeol, and he didn’t seem like someone who would correct them.”

“Really? Why do you think so?”

My response seemed to puzzle Ban Yohan and Kim Junwu.

“What? You didn’t know either?”

“You didn’t know, and you still called him that? You’re really…”

“Well, I just had a feeling. There’s nothing wrong with having Seomun as a last name, and Gyeol sounds cooler than Mungyeol. Gyeol suits him better.”

And if I were the one who created this game, I would’ve definitely named him “Seomun Gyeol” instead of “Seo Mungyeol.” It’s way cooler that way.

Hearing my explanation, the two of them agreed, saying it was a very “me” reason. I didn’t know how they knew it was a “me” reason, but it irritated me for some reason.

“But why do you need to know his room?”

“He lent me a towel earlier.”

“Ah, really?”

Ban Yohan raised an eyebrow and muttered, “Interesting.” Then, he turned his attention to Nagase Ritsu, who had been wanting to ask him something.

As we listened to the two of them chatting in Japanese, we soon arrived at our room.

“I’m so tired.”

“Yeah, totally.”

With permission, I flopped down on Ban Yohan’s bed.

Later, I saw that my blanket was neatly placed on the floor.

Before I leave, I’ll make sure to kick someone out of their bed at least once and sleep on it myself.

“Are you guys going to practice more?”

Kim Junwu asked as he opened a cold vitamin drink he had picked up from a store on the way.

And I, using my limited money, also bought an energy bar to repay Seomun Gyeol for the towel.

“I should…”

There were no more schedules for today.

The practice rooms in the building next door were open until dawn, so we could practice as we wished, or so I thought I heard while drowsing earlier.

Even though I heard it…

“…Let’s just rest for thirty, no, an hour.”

Everyone nodded their heads quickly at Kim Junwu’s words.

“Let’s do that.”

Ban Yohan and Nagase Ritsu then left the room to take a shower.

We knew we’d be sweaty again during practice, but they couldn’t stand feeling uncomfortable at the moment. I understood that.

So, Jing Xiao, Kim Junwu, and I, who had already showered earlier, remained in the room.

“…”

Everyone was silent, exhausted.

An awkward silence settled in.

It felt even more awkward since we had been talking non-stop as if we weren’t strangers just a few hours ago.

As Kim Junwu was laid out on his bed, staring with his eyes half-closed at the lyrics sheet we each received, he suddenly asked with a low voice,

“How many years have you been trainees?”

How could he suddenly ask such a difficult question with so many implications?

All I knew was that I had been Trainee “On Raon” for three years with True Entertainment. It wasn’t impossible that I had been at another company before joining True.

Jing Xiao answered first.

“I, um, came to Korea a year ago.”

“But you speak Korean very well.”

“Thank you.”

“Pfft. I’ve been a trainee for 5 years.”

“Wow.”

Five years was definitely not a short time. It must have been quite a bitter experience for Kim Junwu to be told that his basic skills were lacking and then join Mook Hyeseong’s team.

Fortunately, or perhaps not so fortunately, Kim Junwu had been very passionate, more than one could count on one hand. I didn’t know if he could make his final debut, but if he continued like this, there might be some positive changes by the time this was all over.

“What about Raon-hyung?”

I swallowed some nonexistent saliva.

I had to give an answer that wouldn’t seem strange even if it were caught on camera.

This kind of casual conversation could easily be edited and broadcast later.

“I’ve been doing it longer than Xiao.”

“That’s right. You did it for 3 years with True.”

“Right.”

I nodded calmly. Jing Xiao opened his mouth a moment later as if he didn’t understand something.

“But why now—”

“Hey! So, is that mermaid story you were talking about earlier real?”

Kim Junwu interrupted Jing Xiao’s words in a loud voice.

Jing Xiao looked at Kim Junwu as if to ask why he was doing that and then said sorry to me in a small voice with an oops expression.

“No, it’s fine.”

I managed to wave my hand nonchalantly, but in reality, many trainees had not-so-great reasons or experiences for leaving their agencies.

For example, some people performed poorly in the monthly evaluations, and the company advised them to quit. Some waited endlessly only to discover that they were too old to debut.

I should try not to think about it, but…

“So, is it real? Or just a made-up story? Just a concept?”

Kim Junwu asked again before the atmosphere became too gloomy.

I pretended not to care and went along with it.

“Ah, of course, it’s real.”

“I’ve heard stories of ancestors telling lottery numbers in dreams but never heard of a mermaid teaching a dance.”

“The lottery numbers are more amazing.”

Whose ancestor was that? I’d like to know too.

The silly conversation continued intermittently until Ban Yohan and Nagase Ritsu returned with refreshed faces, and everyone fell asleep. Before I knew it, an hour had passed. Kim Junwu’s wristwatch alarm went off with a beeping sound.

Since no one seemed to want to get up, I took the lead and dragged my heavy body out of bed.

“Let’s go practice.”

I nudged Ban Yohan, who was lying next to me, to wake him up.

As he got up, he looked at me with his thin, open eyes and spoke in a sleepy voice.

“You don’t seem like it, but you’re sharp.”

“Excuse me. What do you mean by ‘I don’t seem like it’?”

“It means exactly what it says.”

He spoke in a leisurely tone, and his laughing face looked like that of a mischievous boy.

It meant that he was annoying enough for me to want to hit him in the back of the head.

“Anyway, let’s get up and go. We have to learn this in time, even if we don’t sleep.”

Dressed in practice clothes, we went out into the cold and entered the practice room with an A4 sheet of paper with the phrase “Hyeseong’s Team” written on it.

There were already a few trainees in the practice room whom I recognized.

When our eyes met, we awkwardly exchanged greetings, saying “hello” and “hi.”

“I heard you can watch the choreography video with this.”

A trainee approached and handed me a tablet. There was another tablet in the group over there.

I pressed the play button, and the choreography video we had seen countless times in the studio started playing.

“Oh, here it comes.”

We carefully watched the choreography video from beginning to end.

By tomorrow’s lesson, we were expected to show the entire choreography, not just the first verse. It seemed like we had a dance lesson in the morning and a vocal lesson in the afternoon.

By the way, because of my lack of Intelligence and Wisdom, it was impossible to learn the song through conventional means.

In this case, I have no choice but to go with the Catallena Meta.

Catalena Meta means practicing just like when I had registered the ‘Dancing Catalena’ choreography during the day and naturally learning the dance.

At that time, I was able to confirm another possibility of “learning.”

The first was probabilistically trying after listening or watching the song and dance from start to finish.

The second option was to practice more conventionally, relying less on the systematic aspect, and automatically registering the song and choreography in the list.

It said learning attempts are impossible, not that learning itself is impossible.’

So, what I needed to do was practice.

It was tough, but I didn’t hate practicing itself. Moving my body to the beat was quite enjoyable.

Was I such an active person?

No, I even gave up Ring×t after two days.

“Hyung, let me do it with you.”

Jing Xiao, who was watching the video on the tablet, came to my side and matched his steps with mine. Soon after, Kim Junwu and Nagase Ritsu joined one after another.

And just like that, we became a group with the other trainees practicing next to us.

The sound of our shoes’ soles hitting the floor echoed loudly.

“Yohan-hyung, aren’t you joining?”

“I want to watch this a bit more. There’s a part I don’t understand.”

Ban Yohan was still watching the choreography video, though it was apparent that he had already memorized it. He just sat leaning against the wall.

He didn’t seem very motivated, despite boldly declaring earlier today that age didn’t matter when chasing dreams.

“Hyung, if you keep that up, you’ll get a beating from Teacher Mook tomorrow.”

It was only after I said that did Ban Yohan reluctantly got up and joined us at the end of the line.

After one practice session, I could feel the sweat and strain, but I managed to control my strength just enough.

As for Ban Yohan, he really didn’t look like he wanted to do this. Why did he even join this program?

He didn’t seem like a one-off extra character to be eliminated early, so I wondered if there was a separate setup.

Ban Yohan, who had the title of being a good-looking perfect scorer on his college entrance exam and an S-University top student, was bound to significantly impact the program, which made me nervous.

On top of that, we were in the same class and room. If he did well…

I caught a glimpse of Ban Yohan drinking his bottled water as our eyes met.

“Why?”

[Ban Yohan suspects you.]

What a surprise. What did I do for him to suspect me?

I was the one who could read the other’s inner thoughts while carrying the system on my back, but I was the one who reacted as if I was being read.

Trying to hide my surprised look, I asked back,

“What’s what?”

“Oh, nothing. Just looking.”

Do you suspect everyone you make eye contact with? That’s what I wanted to say. Was he sensitive or just quick-witted?

I was, in fact, thinking about something embarrassing.

If things stayed like this, there was a high chance that Ban Yohan would get an F-rating.

Looking at the speed at which he learned the dance, he could probably aim for an A-rating.

…Alright. Let’s do that.

“Hyung, I’ve made up my mind.”

“What about?”

“Let’s definitely go for an A-rating together.”

“What?”

“Trust me just this once, and let’s go for an A-rating.”

The narrative of being dragged by the teacher to an A-rating, along with taking care of a classmate and going up together, was added.

Of course, Ban Yohan’s wishes were none of my concern.

[1] In Korean culture, most people have three-part names: a surname (family name) and two given names. For example, the full name of BTS’s V is Kim Taehyung, where “Kim” is the surname and “Taehyung” is the given name. In Hangul, it’s written as 김태형 and the Hanja (Chinese characters) version is 金泰亨. The surname comes first in Korean names, and there are about 250 different surnames in Korea, with Kim, Lee, and Park being the most common. The “Kim” in BTS’ V’s name corresponds to the Hanja character “金,” which means “gold” in English. The individual’s given names usually have a combined or individual meaning influenced by the corresponding Hanja characters. For instance, in the name Kim Taehyung, the Hanja for “태” is “泰,” often translated as “great” or “supreme,” and “형” corresponds to “亨” in Hanja, meaning “prosperous” or “flourishing.” So, “태형” collectively conveys a meaning akin to “greatly prosperous” or “supremely flourishing,” a positive compliment to his surname.

The confusion in question arises with the full name, Seomun Gyeol or 서문결. Both “서” and “서문” are recognized surnames in Korea, though “서” is far more common than “서문.” A well-known Korean with a similarly constructed name is the actor Namkoong Min. Here, the two-character surname precedes a single-character given name, like in the case of Seomun Gyeol. Since this story is told in the first-person, we decided to translate Gyeol’s name as “Seo Mungyeol” until Raon learned the truth.