Chapter Text
“ I just realised, everyone here is a trainee here at daydream! How come most of us have never met?”
Park Minseong’s cheerful voice sounded in the room as we all got ready to get our scheduled activities for the day which were getting our pictures taken and shooting some clips for the first episode.
The man seemed to be acquainted with and even friendly with the stoic Jaheon, sitting next to him in the auditorium seats on the first shooting.
Fortunately, the broadcast won’t be filmed until after the third episode came out so I had more than enough time to get acclimated to this idol thing before eliminations begin.
“Trainee Kim Soleum and Baek Saheon have only recently joined the company.” Lee Jaheon replied.
”Oh that's great then! I can show you guys all the best spots to sneak in naps during dance practice in the building!”
He laughed.
“Do not do that.”
”I was just kidding Jaheon-hyung”
He cupped his hand close to his face and whispered to us conspiratorially.
“Don’t mind him, he takes things a bit too literally. But he means well”
He sat on one of the desk chairs, spinning around on it.
“Since we’re all roommates here I think we should get to know each other! I’ll start. I’m Park Minseong, I’m 19 and I joined IER to make people happy.”
“Lee Jaheon, 20, I am here on orders from the company.”
Park Minseong’s smile faltered slightly.
“Anything else, Jaheon-Hyung?”
“No. That is all.”
“alright, lets move on. Saheon-ssi?”
“Well I’m Baek Saheon, I just turned 18 and joined the program to make a living here instead of staying in my stupid backwater hometown.”
He crossed his arms, glaring daggers into some poor spot on the floor.
I raised my hand sheepishly.
“Kim Soleum, I’m 17, and I….”
I don’t know why this Kim Soleum wanted to become an idol, nevermind why he joined a survival competition in the first place.
The only things I knew from looking through ‘my’ phone was that his family situation was somewhat similar to mine, With two living parents and a brother a few years or so younger than me in middle school.
It seems that I should look into ‘my life’ when this round of filming ends.
“It’s a secret.”
I continued on, forcing myself to smile.
Since we all woke up early, we had a bit more time to chat before the staff knocked on our doors to tell us to get ready.
I opened the wardrobe to change into my assigned uniform from my pajamas. Last night, I checked the suitcase that “I” packed in the dorm, there was nothing out of the ordinary, just some basic everyday essentials like clothes, toiletries, and the like.. Except for a pink rabbit plush keychain.
I wasn’t particularly attached to any childhood toys, nor was I predisposed to be interested in collecting merchandise when I was a teen so I found it strange…Did my ‘brother’ put this in my bag while I wasn’t looking?
’It’s kind of cute though’
I decided to tuck the plush into my blazer jacket, for some reason it gave me a strange sense of comfort so i decided to keep it there.
Lee Jaehon's eyes narrowed at the plush, staring disapprovingly.
”Are you alright Jaheon-ssi?”
”That doll. Dispose of it promptly.”
“Is something wrong with it?”
“Yes.”
I think I need to word the question differently.
“Can you elaborate on that?”
”It is dangerous.”
“…Alright”
I decided to keep the doll on my blazer plush.
After we got ready, some faceless staff members walked us to a waiting room for us to get our pictures taken in.
No one seemed to question it so I just assumed that they were wearing white masks over their heads for easier editing since the staff would just be getting blurred anyway- Not that I know anything about idol shows, but I remember something like this happening when I did some work backstage for a good friend on a talk show.
-look straight this way and smile for me please, perfect
The photographer gave me a thumbs up before taking the picture
Click!
-We will now be moving on to the full body promotional photos
They had me standing straight up like a rod.
Before the shooting, the makeup artists touched me up, covering the tattoos on my arm.
My body was breathing shakily right now, and my heart beat rapidly, and I felt like something was wrong, completely wrong.
“Do we really need to take these pictures?”
-Yes, Soleum-nim.
It seemed that this was just basic procedure, did the original Kim Soleum that inhabited this body have had an anxiety disorder?
The full body pictures took significantly longer, with different shots of me from the front, back, sides, and some zoom-in shots of my body parts.
-That was great everyone, bring in the next trainee!
I was then escorted back to my assigned seating at the auditorium.
“Excuse me, what are full body photographs for?”
I asked the staff escorting me, passing it off as small talk.
Even though it was completely silent, I could tell the staff member chuckled at me
-Its for the auction, Mr. Kim!
Auction?
What exactly is the production company of an idol survival show doing to their contestants to have an ‘auction’?
My blood ran cold.
-You look pale!
It silently gasped, digging into its pockets.
-Have some glucose candy!
Before I could politely refuse, the staff member forcibly placed some candies into my hand.
Maybe I did seem nervous because I was hungry…
I ate the glucose candy and swirled it around my mouth, letting it dissolve.
-You don’t have to worry about it now, it's a spoiler!
They did a ‘shush’ motion on their face where mouth was supposed to be
“…Oh alright”
I kept walking.
—
[ARTchivists, Welcome back to idol exploration records!]
The MC of the program greeted the audience with the same level of excitement as yesterday.
His expression looked somewhat satisfied, as if something good happened behind the scenes.
[ I hope that everyone had a good first day on set!]
[We will now be introducing the judges to assess all 44 trainees’ abilities. Please welcome Miss █████, who will be in charge of rap, Mr █████ who is in charge of vocals, And Mr ███ who’ll be in charge of choreography]
It was quite strange how the judges were faceless too.
You'd expect the company would pay a premium and hire some famous celebrities just to get some more exposure with their faces acting as free advertising…
[Now, we will reveal the song that represents this program. I hope you all will practice with the same level of enthusiasm for the next 2 weeks and impress all our ARTchivists!]
Boom!
The MC extended his arm out as the screen behind him changed to show a graphic of the song title, with confetti shooting out from cannons and fireworks exploding from the stage.
Claps from all around me could be heard.
[The title of the song is <My Pixelated Love>]
Suddenly, an energetic EDM beat with appropriately corny lyrics filled the room.
(Click me click me click me)
Open me up
Only look at me
Only care about me
Every waking thought, is filled with you
I hope you feel the same
The choreography shown on the screen was incredibly complicated. It felt as if this dance was purposefully made to kick me off all the way down to last place or have me filing for a work risk report for tripping hazards just based on the footwork alone.
It seems like I'll be going through a hellish two weeks.
Next to me, Baek Saheon groans in disbelief, at least there’s something I can agree with him on.
The second verse continued after it.
The past me who was nothing more than a passing figure
Has become a shining star
Because of your gaze
I am a star who only shines because of you
Let me be the main character in your world
Idol survival competition theme songs are typically meant to sound a bit parasocial to form a bond between the fans and the idols so the entertainment company can siphon money from them so the lyrics didn’t seem too bad.
I sneaked another piece of glucose candy into my mouth, busy focusing on the complex moves of the dancer on screen, I really wasn't paying attention to the lyrics.
Be the author of our story
You are my god
Let everything else fade to black
Now it’s just you and me
You and me, You and me, You and me
(Click me click me click me)
‘What..?’
My ears twitched.
Okay maybe that’s a bit too much- Doesn’t sound too bad though?
I can definitely see this song being a hit.