WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 63

[And the Next Day]

[5:57 AM]

After introducing the mission songs for each group, the broadcast immediately moved to the next day’s sequence.

―I want some cup ramen.

―Do they even sell that at the store here?

―How about we have breakfast together……?

In a wide shot, two people could be seen anxiously shifting their weight from one foot to the other in front of the practice room.

[Who are these two waiting here so early in the morning?]

[Yuyoung : Ah…… We’re trying to reserve the practice room. It’s first come, first serve……]

[Baekgyeom : Eeerm……I just came along with Yuyoung-hyung.]

Yuyoung and Baekgyeom were huddled together, both wrapped in their hoodies, zipped up all the way.

Jo Hayeon felt a pang in her heart, like she was about to cry, but actually, that sadness didn’t even last for 3 seconds.

Because first of all, this was just too damn wholesome.

And second, her brain had already updated her ‘clips to post after the broadcast’ list with this exact scene.

And third.

It was just so ridiculously cute.

Yuyoung in a hoodie was one of her all time favorite moments.

And on top of that, those two had come out early in the morning just to secure the practice room?

It didn’t get any more hardworking than that.

One could totally stan him just for his personality.

“But don’t you think Ahn Yuyoung gets kinda awkward in front of the camera?”

Kim Minjeong tilted her head as she spoke.

“Hmm, maybe……”

Jo Hayeon responded quietly.

Honestly, that had been on her mind as well.

Whenever Yuyoung was in front of a camera, he seemed to sort of stiffen up.

It almost seemed like he wasn't used to being filmed.

However, that made no sense. The guy had been an idol for almost four years now, so how could he still freeze up in front of a camera?

Maybe he was just really nervous.

What kind of hell had the production team put them through to make him this tense whenever a camera was around?

It was sad, but that was the only explanation she could come up with.

[WEEKANIZ secures the practice room first, followed by Loop7]

[Chenstin ends up with the last slot]

“Karma.”

“Hmm……”

Did they really have to limit practice room access like this?

Kim Minjeong had some serious questions about this show’s rules, but kept them to herself.

[WEEKANIZ who started their stage concept meeting]

[Haram : If we don't fully embrace this concept from the bottom of our hearts, it’s going to show. At the same time, if we go overboard, like Baekgyeom just fanboying about it, it’ll feel forced and unnatural.]

[Beakgyeom : Urgh, that’s harsh.]

“Wahahaha.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Gong Haram is way too good at covertly roasting people. He dealt a hit to Baekgyeom. Ah, how refreshing.”

“……Do you hate Baekgyeom that much?”

“No, well, not hate. It’s just that he makes way too many slip-ups, so every time I see him, I get a little nervous. If he messes up, the whole group gets blamed for it. I just worry about these kinds of things.”

……Normally, wouldn’t one just call that hating him?

Kim Minjeong mentally filed this information as ‘Jo Hayeon doesn’t like Baekgyeom.’

[Yuyoung : ……You’re bringing guns?]

[Haram : Huh? No! What are you talking about?!]

[WEEKANIZ is preparing stage props]

“Ooh, they’re definitely up to something.”

Kim Minjeong adjusted her posture and focused.

The camera was now showing Yuyoung sketching something on paper.

They seemed to be doodles with messy notes added to them, hard to make out, but it was obvious that he was being really meticulous about it.

‘Hmm, he kind of looks like an office worker in a meeting.’

Kim Minjeon’s mind absentmindedly wandered there.

[Yuyoung : Tae Oh, stand over here for a sec.]

[Tae Oh: Okay.]

[Yuyoung: Hm, your upper body’s a bit…… Tae Oh needs something more fitted.]

[Sanho : I want to wear something white.]

[Yuyoung: Okay.]

[Leader Yuyoung finalizes the costume concept]

“Wow, is there anything Ahn Yuyoung can’t do?”

“For real. It’s amazing. He’s even thinking about the styling.”

Jo Hayeon felt deeply moved.

And yet all the production team gave this moment was a bland, lifeless caption like ‘Leader Yuyoung finalizes the costume concept’.

This was completely unacceptable.

A scene like this should be labeled ‘A devoted mother bird carefully tending to its baby chicks’ at the very least.

While Jo Hayeon acknowledged that this might be just a tiny bit delusional on her part, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Ahn Yuyoung was getting seriously shortchanged in the editing.

For example.

[Loop7, as close as a happy rabbit family]

[Chenstin – just as loud and lively as a high school classroom]

[VOV, exuding their signature calmness]

Every other group got captions like these at least two to three times per episode.

Meanwhile, WEEKANIZ got nothing.

Just short and completely soulless labels like ‘WEEKANIZ in a meeting’, ‘WEEKANIZ practicing’, ‘Haram looking tired’ and so on.

‘Maybe I’m just overthinking this because I’m always just staring at WEEKANIZ……’

Jo Hayeon tried her best to shove away all her negative thoughts.

Right now, things were looking good.

<Totter> was doing well.

And at the very least, it seemed like IONER had already been designated as the show’s villain group.

If WEEKANIZ could just finish the competition in a comfortable 3rd place, drop a new album, and move on that was all that really mattered.

After that, the episode moved on to show each group’s concept meetings in turn.

Chenstin decided to perform their most recent song with almost no concept changes.

Jo Hayeon immediately criticized them, calling them ‘lazy’.

Meanwhile, VOV planned to take their bright and refreshing debut song and rearrange it into a deep house track.

Loop7 and IONER also went through their meetings.

Honestly though. Since Kim Minjeong only really knew WEEKANIZ, none of them left a strong impression on her.

Ah, maybe one guy did.

― What if we went for a cute concept? Everyone else is gonna be super serious, so we could be the ones that make it feel a bit lighter.

It was a guy with soft, wavy down-permed hair.

Big, round eyes and thin lips.

The natural curve of his mouth made it look like he was always smiling. He seemed pretty cute.

“Who’s that?”

“Huh? Him? That’s Heerae from Loop7.”

“Ooh.”

“Why? You interested?”

“I don’t care about idols~.”

Kim Minjeong replied sincerely without even a single gram of lies.

After showing each group’s concept meetings, the episode moved on to their practice sessions.

Since they were trying to cram five groups into one segment, the clips felt really short.

Jo Hyeon’s favorite, Ahn Yuyoung, got about five seconds of screen time.

All because IONER hogged a massive chunk by arguing the entire time.

Still, she figured ‘Better five wholesome seconds than ten minutes of nothing but fighting.’

At least this episode wasn’t an absolute barrage of toxic, provocative interviews like last time.

It seemed like they only stirred up drama for the first episode and decided to dial it down in the second one.

Kim Minjeong figured that this was a rather smart move by the network.

The fast-paced episode had been unfolding quickly, and now, it was finally time for each group’s performances.

“Oh, here we go.”

WEEKANIZ was third in the lineup, performing after IONER and Loop7.

Before their stage, a short interview segment played.

[What’s the concept of your performance?]

[Haram: We kept the song’s hip-hop vibe, but paid extra attention to the choreography, props, and costumes. I even gathered some of the props myself, haha. I think it’ll be a fun performance..]

[What’s the key highlight to watch for?]

[Baekgyeom: I…… practiced my dancing really hard, haha.]

[Yuyoung: We worked hard to make the choreography really syncronized, how should I put it…… It kind of feels like a military marching band?]

[Ire: It’s cool. I just think it looks really cool.]

[Haedun:...... It’s really in sync.]

[Yuyoung: If I had to explain the choreo more, pay attention to the bridge section after the second verse and the ending. I think there are a lot of fun details both in the group formation and individual moments.]

[WEEKANIZ’ fresh interpretation of their track, now revealed]

“Woooh, WEEKANIZ oppas, fighting.”

“Haaaaaah.”

One voice was filled with soulless enthusiasm, while another was so emotionally overwhelmed it practically seemed to collapse into a void.

And then the performance began.

[WEEKANIZ:  RELOAD]

[Ahn Yuyoung (Sub-dancer)

Haedun (Rap)

Tae Oh (Sub-vocal)

Gong Haram (Producing)

Baekgyeom (Main-dancer)

Yoon Sanho (Main-vocal)

Ire (Sub-vocal)]

WEEKANIZ members appeared, lined up in formation.

Each of them was dressed in crisp white uniforms.

Yuyoung wore a collarless white jacket over a chinese-collar shirt and white trousers.

A thin silver chain and a lace belt were layered around his hips.

Jo Hayeon thought the details were absolutely stunning.

The rest of the members were also dressed in matching white jackets.

The rifle props they had discussed in the meeting were still nowhere to be seen.

―Yo

Lift yourself up, brighten your gaze

Puff out your chest, take a deep breath

‘Urgh, this is so cringe’

For a split second, Jo Hayeon had that thought, but quickly shook her head, forcing herself to forget.

She had to focus on the performance.

There was no such thing as an eternal guilty pleasure.

It was a song that was bound to be revealed to the world anyway.

The members, who had been standing in a straight line, moved in perfect synchronization as the choreo started.

There were no waves, just sharp, disciplined movements.

The lyrics were almost entirely rap, but none of it was particularly difficult, so everyone split their parts smoothly.

Even Haedun handled rapping well enough.

‘……There’s no real impact.’

Jo Hayeon let out a sigh.

The song itself just didn’t hit.

Sure, they all looked great, dressed in perfectly tailored outfits.

Yuyoung’s slicked back hairstyle was gorgeous.

But it just wasn’t as stimulating as <Totter>.

Was it maybe because the song sucked?

Just why did they have to cover this track!?

“Huh?”

“?”

It was then.

Just as the second chorus ended and the bridge was about to start.

The music suddenly cut out.

There was absolute silence for a moment.

The members stood in a straight line, heads bowed in an ‘at ease’ position.

Like that one… two… three seconds passed.

Then they snapped their heads back up in perfect unison.

Then they walked toward the back of the stage and took off their jackets.

The jackets were tossed aside, landing at the back of the stage.

Then, as the members walked all the way to the rear, they bent down and picked up something from the floor and put it on.

Bulletproof vests.

“Woah, what are they wearing?”

“Wait”

KIm Minjeong held back her comment, startled by Jo Hayeon’s urgent tone.

After securing their bulletproof vests, the members equipped one more item.

Tactical goggles.

And not long after the seven of them, even holding rifles, stepped back into formation and marched toward the center of the stage.

Everything about them had changed.

Before, the jackets had kept them looking quite formal, to the point that she kept wondering why they wore something like that to go with a hip-hop song.

But now, they were wearing white shirts, bulletproof vests, goggles and rifles……

They looked like agents straight out of an action drama.

Jo Hayeon’s eyes widened as she stared at the TV.

A beat without any lyrics started to play.

Then, the members moved, incorporating their rifles into the choreography.

At one point, they formed a tight circle, turning in sync while aiming their guns at each other.

As the beat intensified, they lowered their stances, almost crawling, then suddenly retreating backwards one by one.

Then, in pairs, they squared off, facing each other and raising their rifles.

―Bang!

“……”

And in the blink of an eye, the TV screen went completely black.

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