When Kang Rojun stepped onto the stage for the fourth evaluation along with the 23 other participants, just for introductions, he felt like his brain had frozen. He had already perford in front of an audience before, during the third evaluation at the volleyball court.
But that ti was short and intense. There was no real communication with the audience.
It was literally just performing a few minutes of dance and done.
However, this ti felt a bit different. In the standing area, the audience was watching from an uncomfortably close distance, and many familiar faces had attended as invited guests. Kang Rojun, who had made eye contact with PD Jung Soo-ryeong from the 'Rental Lover' team and Choi Rina, thought,
‘That was such a forced smile.’
He gave a smiling gaze, but inside, the tension was at its peak.
According to PD Woo Han-suk, even famous entertainnt industry personnel were present. More than anything, this grand stage itself was created solely for the participants of 'Produce That 100!' With the pressure of the fourth evaluation already intense, the deliberately spotlighted stage heightened the exhilaration by two or three tis.
‘I can’t calm down.’
Kang Rojun felt the adrenaline rapidly spreading through his entire bloodstream. In the midst of this, sothing happened in the waiting room that heightened his tension even further. Words appeared on the monitor in front of all 24 participants, including Rojun.
-Title: Witch (Original Rap)
-Composed by: No. 58 / Lyrics by: No. 1
Outside the waiting room, the thousands gathered in the hall must have been staring at the sa thing. The first team to be evaluated, Group 1 Team A. In other words, the original rap details by No. 58 and No. 71 were now revealed. While it stood out that No. 58 had composed the original rap 'Witch', the most eye-catching detail was.
'It's out.'
That the lyrics were written by No. 1.
Kang Rojun had already known this through No. 58 and PD Woo Han-suk, but seeing it officially announced in the excited hall made his heart pound.
Would people be surprised?
There were a few people in the hall who probably already knew, but most did not. Even the participants in the sa waiting room as Rojun imdiately began murmuring.
“......Huh?? No. 1?”
“No. 1 wrote the lyrics??”
“Wait a second. It says No. 1 wrote the lyrics.”
“Right? No. 1, did you write the lyrics for that original rap??”
Over twenty participants turned their eyes to Kang Rojun, who was sitting up front. Right beside him, teammate No. 26 also quickly tossed a question.
“Is that true? You wrote those lyrics for that rap?”
With all attention on him, Rojun cleared his throat and nodded.
“Yeah. I wrote them.”
"Holy- shit. For real? Wow, you even do lyric writing??"
Even the usually blunt No. 26 couldn’t help but gape. What about the rest of the participants?
“No way, seriously No. 1 wrote that??”
“I had no idea. When did you even do that?”
“Did he even have ti to write lyrics? No, more than that, he actually knows how to write lyrics?”
"Being a writer was already shocking, but suddenly lyric writing??"
They looked at him like he wasn’t even human. His vocal and dance skills were already insane, and now he was also writing and composing like it was nothing, what kind of idol does that?
‘Just his visuals alone make him a total cheat code!! Stop it already!'
anwhile, No. 26 was focused on sothing else entirely.
“...Okay, the songwriting I can understand, but you gave lyrics to a rival team’s original rap?”
No. 58 and Rojun were competitors. Writing lyrics for soone you need to beat seed unnatural to No. 26. But Kang Rojun didn’t really care. When he wrote the lyrics for 'Witch', it was before the fourth evaluation announcents.
‘Even if I had known, I probably would’ve still given the lyrics.’
The fact that No. 58’s team chose 'Witch' as their evaluation rap was proof of that. When No. 58 asked, Rojun had casually said he didn’t mind. Of course, there was a bit of strategic planning involved.
It was a decision a hundred tis better than it being revealed blandly.
‘The timing of announcing the lyricist is killer, isn’t it?’
anwhile, the hall packed with thousands of people was far more stirred up than the waiting room with the participants. The audience standing or seated was buzzing.
“That lyrics by No. 1 thing. What, what is it??"
“Looks like a mistake. So kind of error.”
“If it were an error, the production team would’ve fixed it already, but it’s still up?”
“This is insane! Did No. 1 really write that?!”
"Amazing, amazing!!"
“No. 1 writes lyrics too??!!”
“It was already aweso that he’s a writer!! And now songwriting?? Wow!!”
It hadn’t been long since the bombshell reveal that he was the writer for 'Rental Lover', and now, with this sudden songwriting reveal happening right here, of course the place was turned upside down.
Murmurs. Buzzing. A complete stir.
The audience mbers were busy scanning the entire hall or chattering away with the person next to them. Occasionally, short screams could be heard. With thousands doing this simultaneously, it was enough to make your ears ring.
PD Woo Han-suk, surveying the overall atmosphere, thought,
'Hmm- they're all losing their minds. Well, I was surprised at first too.'
He completely understood the restless audience. Once again, he was struck by the power and influence of No. 1, Kang Rojun.
‘The writing news had already spread across the sea to Japan, and now this lyric-writing bit, how much it will blow up this ti?’
And this wasn’t even the end of Rojun’s lyric-writing. 'Witch' was just a light spark to start. There was also a song from Song Min-geun, who sat on the judging panel, and 'Survival 100' was waiting.
‘And 'Survival 100' even included Japanese lyrics too.’
Soon, PD Woo Han-suk’s gaze moved toward the judges’ table near the stage. They, too, were busy talking among themselves, except for Song Min-geun. Behind them sat the 'Rental Lover' team, and their reaction was amusing.
“Lyrics? Writer-nim wrote the lyrics to that song??”
“It clearly says No. 1 right there! That ans Writer-nim wrote it!”
“This is crazy, is there anything Writer-nim can’t do??”
They were jumping around with excitent and shock. One of them turned to PD Jung Soo-ryeong and asked,
“PD-nim! Did you know?!”
PD Jung Soo-ryeong, eyes fixed on the ceiling monitor, didn’t answer.
“......”
Because she had just found out too. Then she let out a deep chuckle.
‘Now he’s a lyricist too? Idol, actor, writer, and now lyricist? It’s like he’s a ga character, no matter how much you uncover, there’s always sothing more.’
Feeling goosebumps rise on her forearm, PD Jung Soo-ryeong confird one of the things she had been considering all along in this mont.
‘The OST- he absolutely has to be involved.’
Even from a rough listen, it was clearly connected to 'Rental Lover', and PD Jung Soo-ryeong, quickly running calculations in her head, glanced to her right. Choi Rina, with a beauty mark next to her nose and her mouth slightly open, was staring blankly at the stage monitor. PD Jung Soo-ryeong furrowed her brow and nudged Choi Rina in the side.
“Star Choi, what’s up? What’s with you?”
But Choi Rina, still staring at the monitor, only muttered quietly.
“......Cool.”
“Huh? What was that?”
It was only then that Choi Rina snapped out of it and quickly covered it up.
“S-Such a twist. I didn’t expect Writer-nim to be writing lyrics too.”
“My point exactly. Look over there, those entertainnt folks are practically drooling.”
Choi Rina followed PD Jung Soo-ryeong’s chin gesture. The dozens of entertainnt industry reps in the back had telling expressions. And for good reason. No matter what anyone said, the big fish in 'Produce That 100!' was 100% Kang Rojun, and his value had already skyrocketed, only to rise even more just now.
“There are kids who compose, sure, but how many can also be a writer and lyricist?”
“None. I bet No. 1 can probably compose too.”
“We’ll have to see how the lyrics are, but if he’s writing lyrics, composition should be within reach too.”
“He’s probably hiding other talents too.”
“A villain and a freak, he’s totally one of a kind.”
Just then.
“Group 1 Team A’s ‘Witch’ is starting now!”
MC Jang Dae-han continued the show on stage. The entire heated hall went dark. In just a few seconds, the beat of the rap began to play.
-♬♪
The original rap 'Witch' had begun.
In the dark hall, a single spotlight shone on the left side of the stage. No. 71, seated on a simple chair, brought the mic close to his mouth and began riding the fast beat. He wore a loose hoodie.
“Witch! The curse you spread is a vicious type, get your face out of my sight.”
With the beat, the thousands of audience mbers quickly imrsed themselves, waving their slogan cards and fans in response.
No. 71, who had a puppy-like face and got up from the chair, beca more exaggerated in his actions.
The beat quickened.
As his part ended, No. 71 raised the mic above his head and the spotlight shifted to the right. Sitting in a similar chair, baby-perd No. 58 began rapping as if he had been waiting. Usually quiet or seemingly shy, No. 58 now showed none of that.
-♬♪
He used his whole body to induce the audience's excitent, and the rap No. 58 delivered was filled with contempt and a thirst for revenge. That was exactly the the of the rap 'Witch'. Especially striking was how he ended each verse with a throat-scratching sound effect.
The passionate first verse ended, and without an interlude, it went straight into the second verse.
By this ti, the lighting illuminated the entire stage.
No. 58 and No. 71, who had been far apart, drew closer and began exchanging rap lines like a ping-pong match. As the performance surged toward its climax, the audience had already surrendered to the beat and was partying along. However, the dozens of entertainnt industry representatives had a different perspective.
‘……As soon as No. 58 started rapping, his usual quiet character was gone. From that innocent image cos a pretty powerful performance.’
They paid close attention to No. 58 and No. 71, who were giving their first evaluated performance. For them, this wasn’t entertainnt, it was business. They were here to assess the product.
‘He’s got composing ability, and his rap is top-tier. His vocals weren’t bad either. It’s just that he’s been overshadowed by No. 1, but No. 58 is definitely solid.’
‘No. 71 is good too, but yeah, No. 58 stands out. He’s more popular as well.’
‘Aside from No. 1, No. 58 is the most outstanding talent in 'Produce That 100!'’
Though they didn’t say it aloud, the entertainnt reps silently assessed No. 58 and No. 71 with serious expressions. It wasn’t just about rapping skills, they evaluated how well they fit as idols, as comrcial products. Along with that ca pricing. They projected into the future.
How much could they captivate the public?
For now, No. 58 had the advantage, scoring higher. If you had to categorize, their perspective was entirely different from that of the official 'Produce That 100!' judges. These industry pros were looking at the stark reality.
Just then.
-Swish.
No. 58 and No. 71 returned to their chairs onstage, and the intense beat abruptly cut off. The original rap 'Witch', which had heated up the hall for several minutes, ca to an end. Instantly, thousands of audience mbers erupted in applause and screams.
-Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!
Complints poured out for the just-finished 'Witch'.
“That was aweso!! So good!!!”
“Please release this as a track!! I want to keep listening!!”
“The rap was great, but the lyrics were what made it stick!”
“No. 1 really wrote those lyrics?? They’re perfect!”
“Knowing No. 1 wrote the lyrics makes it even more chilling!!”
This sentint was shared by the judges and industry reps alike.
‘That wasn’t slapped together at all. Those lyrics were legit.’
‘……That quality surpasses professional lyricists. He’s a monster, No. 1.’
The rap 'Witch' itself was catchy enough to stick in your ears, but the fact that No. 1 wrote the lyrics gave it even more points. Regardless of anything else, No. 58 and No. 71 had clearly ignited the energy of the first stage.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you-”
They bowed here and there, and the audience scread even louder. Their faces appeared large across monitors spread throughout the hall. The one who finally cut off the sustained atmosphere was MC Jang Dae-han.
“That was a killer performance! And the fact that it was an original rap makes it even more amazing.”
A short interview followed. Of course, Jang Dae-han didn’t ask about composing or lyric writing here. Soon, No. 58 and No. 71 greeted the audience once more and turned toward the back of the stage. The judges’ evaluations were to co after seeing the second A team’s performance as well.
“Whew- sohow, we made it.”
“Yeah. There were a few mistakes, but I’m satisfied.”
“Sa here.”
No. 58 and No. 71 chatted as they walked to the back of the stage. Then, No. 58’s eyes caught sight of the next team, Group 2 Team A waiting backstage. Kang Rojun and No. 26, wearing a white shirt and slightly loose jeans. Though he was facing a rival, when No. 58 t Rojun’s eyes, he said nothing.
“......”
Rojun was the sa. Speaking now felt like bad timing. Still, inwardly, Rojun gave silent applause to No. 58.
‘Damn, that was lit, he soared onstage once that rap kicked in.’
At that mont.
“It’s ti for Group 2 Team A to challenge Group 1 Team A in the fourth evaluation!”
Jang Dae-han’s voice rang out from the stage.
“Group 2 Team A! No. 1 and No. 26!!”
With a faint smile, Rojun said simply to No. 26,
“Let’s go.”
And then, more intensely than ever.
“Kyyaaaaaaaa!!!!!”
“Kyyaaaaah!!! No. 1!!!”
Ear-splitting screams pierced Kang Rojun’s ears.
*****
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