"Rayen-chii!!!"
Sophie imdiately greeted Rayen, who had just entered through the door. Deep confusion filled his eyes.
Weren’t they supposed to film the second round? Why hadn’t he been transported to the broadcast studio?
The room wasn’t overly cramped, but it wasn’t particularly spacious either. At the center was a sowhat long rectangular table, with three seats on each longer side and one at each shorter end. Each seat was equipped with a black touchscreen monitor and a pair of headphones. It resembled those eting tables found in offices.
The lights were turned off, with the projector light being the only source of illumination in the room. It cast a faint blue hue over the room, aid at a large white wall displaying the familiar interior of the broadcast studio.
Scanning the five people in the room, Rayen’s eyes landed on Harjun. This was the first ti he had seen Harjun up close. During the interim evaluations, his sponsors had been slightly in the back row.
"Why am I here?" Rayen asked.
Behind him, the door shut with a soft click. He briefly glanced back, now certain that sothing was off.
"Oh, we’re also here to film the second round with you!" Sophie explained cheerfully. "Co, sit here!"
Sitting at the right side of the table, she patted the empty seat beside her, but Rayen hesitated to walk over.
’Mada Sophie’s too casual...’
"Go sit over there," a slightly deep voice interjected.
Rayen turned his head toward the source and saw Harjun pointing at one of the seats away from Sophie, at the shorter end of the table. Sophie glared at Harjun, her eyes seemingly sparking with electric current.
"Go on, sit there, lad," Grandma Sponsor said.
Accepting Grandma Sponsor’s words, Rayen walked cautiously toward the indicated seat amidst the silent war between his two sponsors.
’What the hell is going on?’
A few monts passed, and the speakers at the corner of the room crackled, grabbing everyone’s attention.
"Participants and sponsors, are you ready?" The voice belonged to the female director, her tone both enchanting and stoic.
"Ready," the sponsors responded, followed by Rayen.
"We’ll begin filming on 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." The director counted. "Cara, rolling."
With that, filming comnced, though Rayen was still shrouded in the shadows. However, it didn’t take long before he finally realized the purpose of today’s eting.
Sophie and Harjun’s war was still silently ongoing. Yuzuka was too shy to speak, and Miles was unenthusiastic. Only Grandma Sponsor stepped in to explain the situation.
"So, lad... for the second round. What would you like to perform?"
"Yes?" Rayen tilted his head in confusion.
"In today’s round, the sponsors will be bidding for your slot in a group," Grandma Sponsor explained further. "They’ve provided three different units — performance, singing and visuals. Now, we’re supposed to discuss which unit suits you best."
"Is it even necessary to think about it? Of course, Rayen-chii should go for the vocals," Sophie stated firmly.
The others nodded in agreent.
’So what was this segnt even for?’
Gazing around in confusion, it seed as if Rayen’s fate had already been decided even before the eting started.
This eting was actually for the participants whose skills weren’t significantly higher in one area. But because it was too obvious for Rayen, they didn’t need to talk about it.
What they did talk about were random things, such as...
"Do you want to film another advertisent?" Sophie asked teasingly.
Rayen froze. This was what he feared most.
"I..."
"Hehe, just kidding. You should focus on the second round. The eliminations will start from this round onward," Sophie said.
Despite her casual tone, it couldn’t shake the anxiety brewing in Rayen’s stomach. The way the show was progressing had strangely been good — except for the private segnt incident, of course.
Since there were no eliminations in the first round, Rayen had nearly forgotten about it, enjoying his little dance practice sessions. But now, he was being reminded of it.
The image of the crying participants in the cafeteria corner from before crept back into Rayen’s mind. Shuddering, he tried to push it aside.
"Though I doubt you’ll be down there," Sophie added. "We’ve laid a good foundation for you, after all."
Then, she briefly glanced at Harjun with a smirk.
’Well, except for this guy, we did build Rayen’s foundation using our collective ideas to make the cactus ad.’
The "guy" Sophie was referring to was, of course, Harjun.
Ignoring Sophie’s pointed gaze, Harjun continued her words. "Now, it’ll be up to you whether you can build a good image out of it."
Rayen nodded. It wasn’t just an affirmation to his sponsors. It was also for himself. Certainly, he wouldn’t want to be the next one sitting in that cafeteria, eating his last al.
"Actually, we could film another advertisent after this round," Sophie teased again.
Before Rayen could react, she added, "Well, not for Cracktusss."
Rayen blinked.
’If not for Cracktusss, then for what?’
"It’s for Vallenci’s new clothing line."
"Vallenci?!" Rayen’s jaw almost dropped.
’Isn’t Vallenci one of the top global luxury brands? What’s Mada Sophie’s connection with them?’
Sophie was taken aback by his reaction. "Oh? I didn’t tell you who I am?"
Rayen shook his head.
"I’m Vallenci’s CEO."
"What?!"
Rayen almost jumped out of his seat. He never expected the woman in a simple black business suit to be a CEO of a luxury brand.
"Your expression says it’s unbelievable," Sophie said. "Are you badmouthing in your head?"
"Oh..."
Rayen instinctively touched his face, trying to hide his shock.
Sophie sighed, clearly disappointed with Rayen’s reaction. But as she saw him touching his face, she recalled his cute photos that recently trended online.
Sophie said, leaning back in her chair. "Okay, I guess I’ll forgive you."
"Thank you..." Rayen sat stiffly in his seat.
"Seriously, though, you didn’t know? Have you been watching the show?" Sophie pressed.
"I watched the first and third episodes."
"Then why don’t you know? You’re all over the internet because of !"
Technically, Sophie wasn’t the only reason, but she had contributed. Ever since the advertisent had gone viral, even becoming a dance craze, her company had been secretly fanning the flas.
’Is that why I was chased everywhere when we went out?’
"Do you even know who your other sponsors are?" Sophie asked.
Rayen lowered his head in sha. "I know Mr. Harjun... and Grandma."
He knew Harjun even before he had died. They’re both from the music industry after all. As for Grandma Sponsor, he’d learned about her line of job when she ca to help them consolidate their ideas for the first round performance.
Sophie clicked her tongue in annoyance. How could Rayen recognize this habitual latecor but not her?
"Then, let formally introduce them to you," she said, trying to ease her mood. "Since you already know Ms. Beatrice, I won’t introduce her."
Hearing that na, Rayen instinctively stared at the gentle Grandma sitting across from Harjun.
’Beatrice? Theatre actress... Don’t tell ...’
"T-The famous Miss Saifon?"
Grandma Sponsor nodded with a soft smile.
Miss Saifon was one of the most influential and successful musicals in history, and Miss Beatrice... If Rayen wasn’t mistaken, Beatrice was the na of the actress that first portrayed the female protagonist of the show.
At first, Miss Beatrice’s casting was criticized since she was older than the character, which was a teenager. Miss Beatrice was already in her late-twenties at that ti.
It was the first installnt of the show, so why hire an over-age actress for a teenager’s role?
However, she proved them wrong. She proved that age doesn’t matter when it cos to talent.
Well... Rayen knew about all of this because Jared was a musical theater fan. The only ti Jared wasn’t grumpy was when talking about his dog Finley and musicals.
Because of her advanced age, Rayen didn’t recognize Grandma Sponsor as Miss Beatrice — the celebrated actress of decades past. Too bad, he couldn’t get her autograph for Jared.
"I guess you didn’t know, but you’ve already realized it?" Sophie confird, amused.
Rayen nodded in a daze.
"Then as for Yuzuka—"
"She’s the cutest live strear in Japan right now," Miles interrupted.
With his words, Yuzuka nudged him at his side in embarrassnt.
"Oh, I’m not..." she denied. "But yes, I’m a live strear."
"Yuzuka’s fairly young," Sophie added.
"Oh geez, I’m already two lifetis old!" Yuzuka complained.
’Still older than though... I think I’m one lifeti old, on my way to two?’ Rayen thought.
"As for Miles..." Sophie glanced at the youth who returned to his unenthusiastic deanor.
She didn’t want to inflate his ego by introducing him flatteringly like the others.
"He’s Yuzuka’s assistant," she said flatly.
Yet Miles didn’t utter any words of complaint.
’Just ntioning Yuzuka’s na satisfies his ego,’ Sophie thought.
Sitting back on her seat, she ignored Harjun entirely, who glanced her way with raised eyebrows. She skipped this guy not because Rayen already knew about him, but because she didn’t want to waste more of her saliva just boosting his image.
After the formal introduction, an awkward silence settled over the room. Just then, Yuzuka raised her hand.
"But what do we do if we can’t secure a place for him in the vocal group?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)