Chapter 22: The Finals Begin

Seo Chanul.

The undisputed ultimate bias at the peak of my 15-year idol fangirl career. I’ve had countless favorites over the years, but he was the one who made me swear I’d stan him for life. The one and only reason why the possessed regressor, Seo Jimin, refuses to regress again.

“How are you here…?”

He was standing right in front of me.

[Your unique trait, “Even Fangirls Get Lucky,” is violently trembling!]

Get out of the way. That kind of thing doesn’t matter right now.

“Uh… Ah!”

Seo Chanul’s face twisted through a mix of emotions before he seemed to realize something.

“You must be wondering why you didn’t see me at the Seoul prelims. I made it through the Busan prelims.”

“It’s still there.”

It’s still there. That mole beneath his left eye.

“…Huh?”

Do you know how much of a charming point that mole was? Do you have any idea how sad I was when you had it removed…?

“Don’t remove it…”

Without thinking, my hand gently moved toward the left side of his face. So wistful. So painfully wistful it was driving me crazy.

“The mole?”

“It’s totally your charm point. Don’t get rid of it.”

Whether he knew what I was really feeling or not, Seo Chanul gave me his signature confident smile.

“I mean, I do know I’m charming, but you’re the first one to say this mole’s pretty. I’ll think about it!”

To hell with thinking about it—just don’t get rid of it! My emotions were on the verge of spiraling into a full-on over-immersion when—

[Get a grip, please!]

Soram suddenly stepped between me and Seo Chanul, flashing a system window. My rationality snapped back. This was the Be the IDOL filming set, and I was Seo Jimin—no, Kim Haram.

“Kim Haram, please come inside to receive your assigned outfit!”

“…..!!”

At that moment, the staff’s call jolted me back to reality.

Right. This wasn’t the time for this.

“Contestant Kim Haram! Please come inside to receive your outfit for the shoot!”

I quickly sprang up from my seat.

“Sorry. I was a bit… inappropriate for a first meeting. See you again.”

Seo Chanwool looked up at me from where he sat, smiling faintly, and then broke into a wide, bright grin. Soft laughter lines formed around his clearly defined eyes.

“Sure! See you during the shoot!”

Don’t smile like that.

The last thread of my sanity was hanging by a thread…

“Okay.”

I hurried away faster than ever before and put as much distance between us as I could.

…What the hell is wrong with me…

After completing the outfit assignment and changing clothes, I was now in the contestant waiting room before the official first shoot.

Idiot, idiot, idiot.

Unfortunately, I still wasn’t in my right mind. If you ask whether I was happy because I met Seo Chanwool…

Talking about his beauty mark during a first meeting… idiot, idiot!!

…well, I’d say that was only half true. It was because of Seo Chanwool—but it wasn’t because I was happy.

So embarrassing…!

Yeah. That was the problem. Who the hell tells someone not to remove their tear mole the first time they meet them? I must’ve looked totally unhinged.

What if he thinks I’m a complete weirdo?

And to make matters worse, right after I left Seo Chanwool to go get my outfit, the staff took one look at me and said something that made me spiral even further into despair.

“Huh? Contestant Kim Haram, were you crying?”

“What? No, I wasn’t?”

“Oh, come on.”

And right then, I felt the unmistakable sensation of a tear trickling down my right cheek.

“Ah…”

“…Don’t worry, we’ll touch up your makeup before the shoot.”

I was just grateful they assumed something had happened and didn’t pry further.

I must’ve even been crying when I said that stuff about his mole, huh?

That’s 100% weirdo behavior. So humiliating. I’m mortified.

A wave of different types of humiliation rushed in.

“Isn’t Haram-hyung acting weird…?”
“Right?”

Having completed the whole process, Hyunjae and Woojin returned to my side, looking at me as if they were equally confused.

“Woojin-ah…”
“Yes, hyung.”

Woojin, who had been standing a little apart while watching me, perked up his ears and came closer.

“No matter when or where you meet your favorite person, you always have to be mentally prepared so you don’t get flustered…”

Living life, I’ve realized that’s incredibly important. I just learned it the hard way.

“Hm.”

Woojin seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, then opened his mouth again.

“Yes! I’ll always be mentally prepared so I won’t get flustered no matter when or where I run into Haram-hyung!”

…Huh? What?

My eyes naturally turned to Woojin at the unexpected reply.

Noticing my gaze on him, Woojin pounded his chest and said:

“Prepared!”

“…You really are something.”

His confident display made me laugh despite myself.

Ah, now I really feel like I’ve come back to my senses.

“Nothing weird happened while you were away from us, right?”

From behind Woojin, Hyunjae asked with a slightly worried tone.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

Phew. A long sigh escaped from me on its own.

Right, it wasn’t something to be that flustered about. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t seen him a couple of times at fan sign events, right? I’m familiar with him.

In fact, maybe this is an opportunity.

‘He’s definitely someone who’ll be helpful.’

I knew Seochanul’s skills better than anyone. He wasn’t just someone with a bit of talent that we picked up randomly.

‘As long as I bring him in, it’ll be a gain no matter what.’

The more I calmed down and thought about it rationally, the more convinced I became that this situation was actually a good one.

It seemed like in Seo Jimin’s original timeline, Seochanul didn’t debut through Be the IDOL — but this time…

‘I’ll definitely make him one of us.’

“I’ll make sure you’re stuck with me for life. Heh heh heh.”

“…Hyunjae hyung, doesn’t Haram hyung’s smile seem a bit… sinister right now?”
“Hmm… yeah, definitely.”

“Hmph…”

Woojin, who had been observing my face closely, spoke up again.

“Should I change the person I like the most from Haram hyung to you instead, hyung?”

“I’d love that.”

“Yah—!”

Don’t joke like that.

When I made a suddenly heartbroken expression, the two of them laughed like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

While we were laughing—

“Main shoot standby! Everyone, please head out to the filming location!”

The staff who had been waiting began giving instructions.

“Finally, the shoot…!”

Woojin stood up with a mix of anticipation and worry, clenching his fists.

“Phew. Now that it’s really starting, I’m super nervous.”

Hyunjae stood up with a sigh.

“Let’s go.”

We stepped out through the open door and headed to the set.

*****

We arrived at the filming site after a surprisingly long walk. And the moment we arrived—

“Woooow…!”

Hyunjae and Woojin widened their eyes and began looking around the set. The set was indeed quite large in scale.

Heh… these guys. But to my eyes—hardened through countless large-scale concert venues—

“Woooow…!”

…Even to me, it looked massive. Wait, you can install a screen that size in a set of this scale?

“Did we walk into some other singer’s concert venue by mistake…?”

I was just about to voice that exact doubt.

“Huh? What the—?”

“Are we in the right place?”

The others kept coming in, so it seemed like we were in the right place…

What in the world have you pulled this time, PD Jang Yeonju?

As we huddled together along with the other incoming contestants, I spotted Seochanwool entering the set from another waiting room.

He recognized me and waved his hand energetically in greeting.

‘Urgh…!’

That bubbly little guy…Calm down, heart. You haven’t even been stable for 30 minutes.

Just then, a system window popped up in front of me.

[Your unique trait, “Even a Fan Can Get Lucky,” is subtly trembling!]

Ah, that’s the message I briefly caught when I first saw Seo Chanwool earlier. I ignored it at the time… but ‘trembling,’ huh. That word felt oddly suggestive, and it bothered me.

‘The cause must be…’

Obviously, it’s because I met my “ultimate bias,” the root of this trait. I glanced sideways at Seo Chanwool, only for our eyes to meet again.

Why does he keep looking at me like that? It’s making me nervous.

‘He doesn’t think I’m weird, does he?’

…Hopefully not.

A short while later, all 100 contestants had arrived on set. No one said much, tense as we all were, but the atmosphere was pure chaos. The noisy silence dragged on until—

“Alright, we’re starting the shoot now! Contestants, show us your reactions! Give us good visuals!”

Okay. Reactions are key. If you want screen time, you’ll do whatever it takes. Determination filled the contestants’ eyes.

“We’re starting! 3… 2… 1… Action!”

As the countdown ended, the sound of camera shutters echoed from every direction, and bright lights flooded the stage. Music began to play. And standing at the center—someone who no one noticed arriving—

“Welcome to <Be the IDOL>!!! Congratulations to all of you who made it through the fierce preliminaries and into the finals!!!!”

A person, presumably the host, spread both arms wide as they delivered the greeting.

“…Huh?”

“Huhhh?”

And just like that, confusion erupted everywhere.What the heck is this now?

“Let me introduce myself first! Due to a sliiight… unfortunate incident recently, I’ve stepped down from my judging duties and taken on this role instead!”

Excuse me, but if something unfortunate happened, shouldn’t you step down entirely? Is it that hard to meet the victim’s wishes?

“I’m Choi Hansol! Nice to meet you all!!”

With a grand flourish of his arms and a dramatic bow, Choi Hansol greeted us—and confetti cannons exploded from every direction. Ah… please don’t waste our budget on this nonsense. Not a single contestant clapped or cheered until the rising fireworks finally settled on the ground.

And that’s understandable.

‘How does a person change that much?’

Soon, the music quieted down. Choi Hansol, who had been keeping his head lowered, slightly lifted his gaze and glanced over at the contestants.

“Where’s the cheering?”

“Uh…”

Or… maybe not? Maybe things haven’t changed.

Startled, the contestants quickly scrambled to let out cheers.

“Waaaaah—!!!”

“Wow! Choi Hansol!! The best MC!! Woohoo!! Shake up the stage!”

“I’ll do an acrostic poem with Choi Hansol’s name!! Please give the first syllable!!”

“Choi!!!”

Please don’t. Don’t do an acrostic. Don’t even start it. And should Choi Hansol really be shaking the stage? A wave of random praise filled the air. Choi Hansol stood up and this time raised both arms, drawing a long horizontal line in the air with his fingertips.

“That’s enough.”
“……”

With a single gesture, silence fell over the set in an instant.

“Let’s keep that level of passionate response going moving forward.”

Gulp.

The sound of swallowing echoed here and there.

“Now then.”

Choi Hansol spun around and turned to face the back of the stage.

“Before we get into the actual program introduction—!!”

The once-quiet music swelled up dramatically again, and Choi Hansol’s energy shot up with it. His two hands slowly rose upward and then met in the middle with a sharp clap.

Clunk—!

Accompanied by an artificial-sounding light-switching noise, something massive was revealed.

“Whew—”

At the same time, several contestants drew in a deep breath.

“<Be the IDOL> is, at its core, an idol survival competition!!!”

This… is seriously impressive.

“Then, where do each of you currently stand?”

Behind him was a massive and incredibly flashy ranking display, reminiscent of a trophy showcase.

“Let me show you right now!!”

With a sweeping motion, Choi Hansol stepped aside, as if inviting the contestants forward from the stage.

“Well then, let’s begin the [First Ranking Announcement Ceremony].”

The voice suddenly turned calm again.
Starting from the back, Choi Hansol’s gaze slowly swept over the contestants—
Then it stopped. On me.

He wore a strange smile, as if entranced, as if refreshed.
I hated that. I really did.

His eyes lingered for a beat too long, then abruptly moved away, like there was no need to dwell any further.

“You may come forward once you’re called.”

And with the point of Choi Hansol’s finger, targeting the first sacrificial lamb—

“!! Begins now!!!”

At last, the journey toward debut began once again.