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Chapter 14: Survival - Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha (2)

"Hey, hey! Take this seriously! We shouldn\'t have dismissed Suh Hyun-Woo\'s words as a mere joke. Give it your all, okay?" urged Goh Yoo-Joon. Spurred on by his words, we started practicing our performance with the intensity of heading into battle.

Everyone—the members, the manager, the staff, and even the lady filming the video for our UTube channel—had a battle-ready look in their eyes and didn’t hesitate to point out every mistake we made.

"Lee Jin-Sung! Bend more there!"

"Do you want to do a head spin there or what?"

At that moment, the youngest writer of Pick We Up knocked on the waiting room door and entered. "It\'s time for Chronos\'s shoot."

Without realizing it, the auditions for the other groups had ended, and now it was our turn.

***

"Just a moment, please. We should change the tape!"

Everyone in the judge\'s seat stretched out after hearing the director’s words.

"Oh, I\'m tired." The woman yawning widely was Reina, South Korea\'s top solo artist. As she leaned over her desk, the head director of the program, Kim Shin-Sik, also yawned.

"I mean, they are all great, but I don\'t know if we need this audition scene." Kim Shin-Sik\'s words prompted Reina to turn her head toward him.

"Wasn\'t this your idea?"

"It’s more like maintaining tradition since most survival shows started this way. It wasn’t something that I desperately wanted."

The audition scenes used to fill up two episodes and featured participants who had received plenty of airtime, but it became less entertaining starting from the last season of Pick Me Up.

"Ugh, I don’t even know what they want me to judge. I feel like a praise robot nowadays, always having to compliment even if they lack talent," Reina spoke candidly, echoing Kim Shin-Sik\'s sentiments.

The audition scenes had lost their charm because if the trainees lacked talent, the public would show interest just to criticize them. And if they were already celebrities, they would create a scene. This was evident in the previous show Rapstar, where a male contestant caused chaos during filming simply because he didn’t like one of the other participants.

"All of that became the talk of the town..." Kim Shin-Sik let out a deep sigh. "Who knows what the future holds for them."

The potential of these trainees was immense, especially those from renowned entertainment companies. However, the trainees with distinctive qualities would hide their unique personalities during auditions, opting instead to present their best image in a gentle atmosphere for the sake of image management.

Of course, while each group had members with outstanding skills, some were also relatively lacking. However, the judges felt restrained and could not make any provocative critiques, likely fearing the backlash from fans that would inevitably arise after the trainees\' debut.

"The directors gave up on stirring any sensation when they decided to feature trainees whose debuts were already confirmed on this survival show."

There was a limit to how manipulative the editing could be. Back then, the producing team had faced significant backlash when they applied a malicious edit to Pick Me Up. The repercussions would be even more severe for boy groups.

In that sense, the show\'s direction seemed to convey, “Just watch these kids have fun together. Look at how well they perform on stage. Just become a fan.” This stood in stark contrast to the intense competition implied by the show’s title—survival.

"We will start filming soon!"

As the two people were chatting, the preparations for filming were completed. Reina tapped her cheeks and let out a deep sigh. Immediately, her face then filled with enthusiasm again as the hint of boredom disappeared.

"But everyone is pretty cool, right?" Reina shook her head. In fact, Kim Shin-Sik knew why Reina seemed so full of complaints.

"They are cool, I admit. But honestly, it\'s not fun."

What Reina mentioned was a problem even during Pick Me Up. Since the groups that were participating were already set to debut, their behavior was prim and not entertaining to avoid controversy. As a result, their performances were only splendid and impressive. The youngsters, who could hardly fill the broadcast time, would only dance and sing. This was definitely not entertaining.

Of course, the target audience of this show was those who liked idols. However, because of this, the program wouldn’t be able to have mass appeal, just like the original Pick Me Up.

"Sigh. Next time, they should release Rapstar 2 or something."

Even if Rapstar was controversial, it was a show that everyone tuned into. The real highlights today were a group from a major agency and another group that had become the talk of every portal site thanks to a recent lighting accident.

At that moment, the VJ stepped in front of the camera and announced, "We\'re starting the shoot! Slating!"

Reina quickly changed her bored expression.

Click!

As the camera light turned on, Reina quickly skimmed through the profiles of the participants. Then, she tilted her head with a puzzled look.

"Cha-Cha?" It was the first time she raised an issue with a song choice.

"What?"

"Director, this group. They are the ones involved in the recent lighting accident, right?"

Looking at the profile list pushed in front of him, the director nodded. "Oh, the YMM kids. The one in the middle is the member who got hurt."

"Right, but their song choice is Cha-Cha? Like the opening theme from the show we watched as kids?"

"Huh?"

It was only then that the director took a closer look at the profile list in front of him. Their pictures were carefully curated, dressed to impress like other groups, like any other groups. While they had become a topic of discussion, a closer inspection revealed that, in terms of appearance, their photos weren\'t significantly different from the rest, and they weren’t even from a major agency.

Because of that, the director hadn’t even looked closely, considering that this group had probably chosen similar songs to those of the previous groups. However, as he now scrolled through the profiles, his gaze stopped at one point like Reina. "Red... Riding Hood Cha-Cha?"

"Yeah. This seems like that cartoon, doesn\'t it?"

"They brought something unique, huh?" The director thought that it might have been mistakenly added, given how drastically different the genre was from what other groups performed.

"What is their concept, Director?" Reina inquired, her eyes alight with interest. Finally, a group that brought something comment-worthy. However, the director only responded with a cheeky smile.

Just as Reina was about to retort...

Knock. Knock.

"Excuse us."

"Chronos is coming in."

Though not looking entirely confident, a group wrapped in red cloaks streamed onto the set.

"What’s with that look!? Hahaha!" Reina burst out laughing, and the director, the judges, and the filming crew all erupted into laughter.

"Is it really the Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha?"

"Ah, hello!"

Chronos stood up, looking somewhat timid as they were dressed in the Red Riding Hood Cha-Cha’s attire. Glancing at the judges, they hesitated even to introduce themselves as they saw everyone was laughing.

The director\'s demeanor was now very amicable, a stark contrast to his attitude toward the other groups.

Finally, a group that could provide some substantial content had arrived. Given that they were already a talked-about group with impressive profile pictures, everyone assumed that they would present a cool concept. But this...this was truly unexpected.

As the leader of Chronos, Kang Joo-Han nodded, signaling the group. "One, two, three!"

"Hello! We are Chronos! Pleased to meet you!"

It didn\'t matter what their skill level was at that moment. The popular, handsome group—known to have a strong bond for saving each other in risky situations—turned out to be unexpectedly comedic.

The director laughed heartily, very satisfied with the unexpected turn of events.

"I’m looking forward to this. Let\'s watch first and then ask questions," said Reina, her voice more passionate than before. A standout group had finally arrived. How intriguing and welcome this was!

The staff started the music at Reina\'s gesture. Following that, Chronos started their performance. The smiles that had adorned Reina and the director\'s faces slowly morphed into expressions of surprise.

***

The music started, and it was just the original Cha-Cha tune. Adorably, we called for the magic pendant. For a moment, we let go of our original selves, immersing ourselves in Cha-Cha’s character, unembarrassed by our outfits and dance.

‘I am the cute and lovable Cha-Cha. I am the magical girl with a beautiful wand, Cha-Cha.’

The brainwashing from the waiting room seemed to work as the other members also performed earnestly, embracing the cuteness. Among us, Joo-Han and I undoubtedly stood out. And strangely enough, it started to feel fun after a while.

Joo-Han seemed to share the sentiment. He twirled his golden curly hair with both hands and winked at the camera, all while singing the song meticulously. As he twisted his waist and turned, Goh Yoo-Joon\'s voice subtly started to change.

Was it just my imagination?

I observed other members as I moved around. Park Yoon-Chan tried hard, but he couldn\'t hide his embarrassment, covering his skirt with his hands every time it fluttered. Lee Jin-Sung didn\'t laugh, but he performed the cute choreography seriously.

However, as our humorous performance continued, the once-laughing judges seemed to slowly lose their interest in us.

The real change of pace started here. As the only one among us wearing pants, Lee Jin-Sung moved to the center and dramatically threw off his wig in sync with the changing beat. With Jin-Sung at the center, our performance transformed during the dance break.

Cute coyness and bubbly laughter were still the key. We bent deeply and rotated our upper bodies like clock hands, showcasing all the dance techniques we had learned to the beat.

The positions changed once again, and I was at the center this time. All of a sudden, the mood that was amplified by the accompaniment reached its peak.

Boom, Boom, Bang!

Now was the time. I exerted force into my abdomen and belted out the high note that I had practiced like crazy for the past two weeks.

“Wooah, magic, pendant, Woooah-!”

“...Haah! Magic, pen, pendant!”

Exactly at the high note in “pendant,” Reina, whom I\'d only seen on TV, started to laugh hysterically. Honestly, I felt like laughing, too, with everyone laughing. However, I composed myself and finished the high note with a serious face.

As the powerful music concluded, my group members and I thrust our fists toward the sky, our faces beaming with pride. We were the best, and we were determined to become the very best!

Our fists, stretched out high, symbolized our ambition to soar to the sky as the music came to an end.

“Huff, huff...” Still under the afterglow of our performance, we looked toward the judges. Ironically, they had burst into laughter more during our serious dance break and vocal showcase than during our initial cute act.

Then, as our fists were raised high, the cape fell off my head.

“Ah.”

At that moment, it hit me—we were in the middle of a Cha-Cha cosplay. Only then did I start to feel embarrassed about getting so immersed in the performance and going wild with a cool expression on my face.