The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Chapter 51

While the Siren members were rejoicing about their unexpectedly high screen time, the community forums and SNS sites were buzzing with content about The Showcase 2.

—Siren’s dorm is seriously crummy

—Can you even call that a dorm?

—How could their company make them sleep in a place like that? Are they out of their minds?

The first responses were all about Siren’s dorm since the condition of Siren’s dorm could be considered the first highlight of The Showcase 2’s first episode.

—No. Isn’t this abuse?

—Look at the state of this place. It’s seriously in shambles.

—It’s hilarious that they are trying to grow idols with their capital lol

As expected, people empathized with Siren and insulted WD Entertainment.

—Wow, but Woo Yeon-Hoon is seriously good looking

Reply: It’s straight-up insane.

Then, after a wave of insults about Siren’s dorm conditions, the responses shifted to talking about the members’ visuals. Normally, these would’ve been the first responses to pop out, but the conditions of Siren’s dorm had been too memorable.

—In terms of visuals, Siren is the best in The Showcase 2

Reply: ?? You are crazy. Kang Hyun-Sung is the best

Reply: You are just a delulu fan

—Lee Woon is so handsome

Reply: No, he is so pretty

—Who is the cute guy sitting in the corner...?

Reply: It’s Siren’s cutie-pie, Park Dong-Jun!!

—Why is Bong Tae-Yoon so quiet?

Reply: That’s probably his personality

Reply: The only introvert among peak extroverts hahaha

—Ah, fuck! Am I the only one who finds Tae-Yoon eating solemnly by himself so cute??

Reply: You sound so angry haha

Reply: I can’t help it!

—Kang Do-Seung totally looks like a mean gangster but can make soybean paste stew. It’s such a nice contrast

Reply: Do-Seung...It’s your grandma...My last dying wish is to eat the soybean paste stew that you made...please give me the address to your dorm...

Reply: Doesn’t seem like your goal is to just eat stew...?

Though most of the responses in the beginning were about Woo Yeon-Hoon’s appearance, as time passed, attention also divided among the other members. It seemed after everyone came for Yeon-Hoon, they were dispersing according to their individual tastes and interests.

—Isn’t Woon Yeon-Hoon the visual?? Why is he so good at singing?

Reply: I know right? I’m shocked.

—What’s with Yeon-Hoon’s singing?

—First time I’m shocked at someone’s singing abilities.

Then, the next line of conversation naturally flowed to discussing the members’ skills.

—Lee Woon’s dancing skills are no joke.

—His dance moves are sick

—Did you all hear Bong Tae-Yoon’s singing voice?

Reply: Even Park Dong-Jun is pretty good at singing

Reply: Kang Do-Seung’s voice is seriously my style

Since Siren had one of the most noticeable visuals among the cast members and had outstanding talents, it was only expected that a lot of attention would pour over them.

—At this point, I’m curious who the people working inside WD Entertainment are.

Reply: Yeah, where did they find guys like them?

Reply: Were these guys originally in a pre-debut group for a big company?

People were curious how a small company like WD Entertainment managed to find such outstanding talents. There were cases when individuals with eye-catching visuals and good skills failed to debut in companies and dropped out, so they wondered if the same happened in this case.

—You know, these guys’ practice rooms are in an even worse state

Reply: Yeah, it’s too much. What kind of sane person thinks this is okay?

—Look at the difference between Only One’s and Siren’s practice rooms (Only One and Siren’s practice rooms.jpg)

Reply: Wow, Only One’s practice room looks really nice in comparison

Reply: I’m not lying but their practice room looks smaller than my house’s living room

Posts about Siren seemed to form and rise on top searches nonstop on par with Only One, who was predicted to become the main character of this show. Perhaps, Siren even had a slight lead. Yet, the majority of the posts about Only One were positive while a large part of Siren’s comments were made in shock or mockingly about Siren’s poor accommodations.

But apart from Siren’s poor accommodations, they were also amassing interests and fans because of their individual talents and visuals. Comments reviewing The Showcase 2’s first-round performance piggybacked on these interests and accelerated Siren’s popularity.

—I got a ticket to go to the show’s first-round performance and went there. Though my purpose was to find a new group to stand, honestly, I went there with low expectations. But I can summarize my whole review of the first-round performance with just these four words: ‘Siren is the bomb.’ I will write my review of each of the groups below, but Sirens are truly the guys to look out for. I’m seriously shocked by how amazing their performance is and don’t understand why they have to suffer under a shitty agency like WD.

So, this is my review of each of the groups...

Reply: I was also chosen to go. (I’m adding pictures in case people don’t believe me.) And I also felt the same as you. Siren really surprised me. Honestly, except for them, everyone else felt like amateurs or didn’t really have the wow factor that could draw people’s attention. Only Siren truly felt like idols.

After The Showcase 2’s first episode was released, reviews about the first-round performances rushed in. But of course, there were also plenty of people objecting to this too.

—People are hyping up Siren too much

—It’s so obvious that they fabricated the whole thing

—Why did the show focus so much on Siren?

Reply: It’s because they are the most interesting. When other groups came out, it made me yawn

Reply: So true. This is the screen time Siren achieved by doing things like eating a bug

There were even conspiracy theories that suggested the broadcasting show was collaborating with Siren behind the scenes.

—Doesn’t The Showcase 2’s winning group make a joint contract with the Jaeil company?

—What if they already chose the winning team and are now using all the other groups as extras?

Reply: But do you think they will seriously use Kang Hyun-Sung as an extra?

Reply: Siren has a lot of screen time, but it isn’t to that level

Reply: No way the show will be able to withstand all those angry Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans if they do that

—Jaeil Group has always been going on about making an idol group

Reply: You are going too far just because they got a bit more screen time

Reply: Ah, seeing how there are already getting conspiracy theories, it seems like they will become big~ hahaha

Reply: This is why I left the idol community...

Reply: Why did you come back?

Reply: How could you abandon your home...?

Since Siren members had all the traits that were difficult to find in a doomed idol group that came from the worst company, some people questioned whether or not everything was fabricated. Some proposed that WD Entertainment could be a small agency created by the Jaeil Group and so on.

—Why the heck will the Jaeil Group disguise itself as a small company? Do you think they are cosplaying as the poor?

Reply: It’s so that they can gain empathy for how dire their conditions are and gain fans.

Reply: ?? It will be much more beneficial for them to just release this group on their own channel

Reply: Stop spreading your nonsense as fact~~

But because these were simply rumors with no basis behind them, these suspicions were met with a lot of scorn and ridicule and fell under the surface. And the true highlight comments were responses about the first-round performances.

—It almost makes me mad seeing how good they are

Reply: Saame

—I can’t believe they are in a show about doomed idols

—Woo Yeon-Hoon is so good at singing

—They are so good :0

—Ah damn it! Woo Yeon-Hoon is too darn cute!!!

—Who will dislike this? Their cute looks perfectly match the sailor uniforms

Reply: I agree 100%

The most noticeable performance among the first-meeting performances was Siren, so posts about Siren continued to rush out.

—Who’s the guy at the center singing? It’s super urgent

Reply: Woo Yeon-Hoon! Siren’s leader and main vocalist!

—Wow, look at the size of Bong Tae-Yoon and Kang Do-Seung’s arms (Picture of them lifting Woo Yeon-Hoon.jpg)

Reply: I can understand why only those two are wearing navy sailor uniforms while the rest are wearing white

Reply: It makes my heart thump seeing how different their styles are

—Wow, Lee Woon is so good at dancing

Reply: For real. When he stood in the center, I could only pay attention to him.

Reply: Yeah, he moves really lightly but not in a weak, energy-less way. He knows when to put more force at the right times.

The Showcase 2, which everyone had believed would become Only One’s backstage, was rolling around with Siren at the center. But of course, it wasn’t like Only One was just losing either.

—I’m dying from Kang Hyun-Sung’s gaze

—He’s killing me with those eyes

—When he glares at the camera after landing on the ground, it’s seriously spectacular

—Ah, my heart is thumping so fast

When there were many posts about Sirens, posts about Only One also quickly rushed in. Since Only One also showed an outstanding performance comparable to Siren, Only One’s fans also had a lot to focus on and discuss. Yet, the problem was that the vast majority of their responses were concentrated on Kang Hyun-Sung. At rare times, posts about other members were made but the count of that wasn’t even one out of ten posts.

All in all, Siren’s fandom and Only One’s fandom didn’t clash much yet. There were some trolls, who fought people in the comments, but it wasn’t to the point that it could cause an all-out fan war. Yet, there was a point where things seemed to be heading towards that direction.

—Did Siren seriously get last place?

—What? Am I imagining this??

It was then Siren’s rank was revealed, and they were placed in last place. Then the fact that the rank had been decided by each of the groups’ voting was also revealed. In other words, everyone knew that Siren had placed last because other groups had been wary of them, while Only One placed first thanks to the other groups’ support. Knowing that this rank wasn’t based on performance or skills, Siren fans and those who had felt positive feelings towards the group expressed their anger.

—There’s no way Siren should be last place with their skills

Reply: How the hell did they get last place?

—In terms of skills alone, they were similar to Only One

—Honestly, I thought they were better than Only One

They all wondered why Siren got last place when they did comparatively similar or better than Only One, who placed first. Of course, Only One’s fans couldn’t just sit back and watch either.

—It’s so ridiculous that they will compare these no-name idols with our boys. It blows my mind.

—The ridiculous thing is that Only One would have gotten zero attention without Hyun-Sung.

—It’s so annoying how Siren fans keep dragging Only One down

—Whatever you say, Sirens are just no-name idols~ And it doesn’t change the fact that Hyun-Sung is a first-tier idol

Perhaps, because some Only One fans took things too far, the public was more sympathetic towards the calmer Siren side.

—How long are you going to go on with the first-tier stuff? It wasn’t even an official group but a temporary one

Reply: Whatever you say, these guys will never even get first place on a music show even temporarily

Reply: Isn’t that just what you are wishing for?

—It’s funny how Only One fans are going on about doomed idols when Only One is also from a small company

—Honestly, Siren’s visuals are generally better than Only One

—In the first place, Siren did a good enough job to be placed as rivals with Only One. You are literally going on about things that don’t even make sense

Reply: That’s what I’ve been saying. Siren doesn’t lose against Only One

The rivalry between the two groups became stronger, and as it became more established, the more people who became invested in the situation increased. Harsher words were said while a sense of unity among different groups solidified.

And then, there was one person quietly scanning through the flow of responses after the show was over– Siren’s maknae, Bong Tae-Yoon.

He turned off his phone and thought deeply, ‘This is huge.’

The show had been edited in their favor and their rivalry against Only One was established much sooner than he had expected. Furthermore, he was also astonished by how quickly the conversations were heating up on the internet.

Thus, after the show was completely over and he prepared their bedding to go to sleep, he said, “Guys.”

“What?”

“What is it?”

“Hm?”

“Yeah?”

All the Siren members turned their heads and looked at Tae-Yoon. Then Tae-Yoon said, “I think we need to move now.”

This was the most pressing problem they had to solve right now.