TDOCD Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

Discrimination

"Good morning, everyone! Finally, our first team retreat has begun!"

"Woohoo!"

The trainees cheered as Choi Gyu-jin greeted them with the enthusiasm of a circus ringmaster.

"You must be busy greeting old friends after just arriving at the dormitory. So, what do you think? Are you satisfied with the accommodations?"

"Yes!"

The interior was beautifully designed, with practice rooms and various facilities just steps away. Like last time, this retreat center was the perfect space for focusing on the competition.

"I'm glad you like it. I hope you'll create amazing performances during your week here. But before we officially begin the retreat!"

MC Choi's booming voice echoed throughout the auditorium.

"There's something crucial we need to discuss - the song selection process."

Song selection process? Apparently it wouldn't be as free as expected.

Well, that's fine. I watched the screen behind the podium with indifferent eyes. Text appeared on the massive screen that seemed almost too large for the small auditorium.

"For this song selection..."

[Choose Each Other's Songs]

"What..."

What is this?

"Remember how you drew lots to determine your opposing teams during the Round 2 theme announcement? This time, you'll be choosing songs directly for your opposing team."

"Huh? We don't get to choose our own?"

"Oh no, we can't do what we planned..."

Sighs of disappointment echoed throughout the room.

Of course, since this was for broadcast and image was important, no one except a villain would assign strange songs. Still, having an unfamiliar opponent choose such an important song was naturally unpleasant. With barely enough time to work on Flora, spending time selecting songs for an unfamiliar team wasn't exactly thrilling either.

Well, anyway... that's how it was decided.

"Each team should freely choose their opponent's song before dinner tonight. See you all again this evening!"

Oh, this is dizzying.

Whether or not he understood the trainees' confused state of mind, MC Choi cheerfully said goodbye and bounded off the stage.

"Hmm..."

Only the trainees remained. Team members exchanged glances, silently asking what they should do.

"Main filming is complete. Everyone is dismissed."

Since the main filming was over and all trainees were gathered, maybe we should talk with our opponents, 5th May Rookie? It would be good to agree on choosing songs within each other's preferred range after asking what kind of songs they wanted.

Yes, let's do that.

"Let's go over there and say hi..."

Thump-.

Just as I was about to speak to my members, someone jabbed my shoulder hard from behind.

"Ah."

I couldn't help but groan as a finger pressed firmly into my shoulder blade.

Frowning instinctively, I turned around to find 5th May Rookie members looking down at us with smiles on their faces.

It was not only too sudden, but also quite rude to poke someone you barely know with your finger.

As I sat there rubbing my shoulder, Han Da-min came up and protectively wrapped her arms around me from behind.

Then with a slight smile, she said:

"Hello. Is there something you need?"

Her expression was as businesslike as the day we first spoke.

I remember our members were quite intimidated by Han Da-min being such a senior trainee back then.

But these SU trainees, probably used to having such seniors around, seemed unimpressed by her presence.

"Oh, it was nothing really."

The 5th May Rookie member who had jabbed my shoulder smiled gently without showing any sign of apology.

"Just wanted to say - make sure to choose a really good song for us. Fighting~"

Then with a slight nod, they disappeared with their members.

"..."

Well, they didn't say much but somehow... this feels unpleasant?

'What was that about?'

What's with them? Why did they talk like that?

Somehow it felt condescending...

'Make sure to choose a really good song for us?'

The members exchanged bewildered looks before hurriedly getting up from their seats as if trying to smooth over their expressions.

"L-let's get out of here too!"

"Y-yeah..."

Don't they care about managing their image when cameras are still around? Even without cameras, they could have been more tactful if they wanted to make a request.

For trainees from a major agency, their first impression was surprisingly poor.

I followed the members out of the auditorium, still pressing my sore shoulder.

***

I thought we'd start the song selection meeting right after arriving at the practice room.

But...

I rolled my eyes side to side, checking the members' conditions.

The members who usually lit up and spoke enthusiastically during meetings were quiet.

Not only that, but their eyes seemed lifeless.

"Hmm... what should we do..."

Thanks to occasional murmurs, they appeared to be contemplating song choices, but still.

There was no spirit in those murmurs.

After spending a whole week together 24/7, I could roughly read their thoughts.

'Their minds are elsewhere.'

Everyone looked extremely troubled. I kept my mouth shut, feeling resigned.

The members' current state wasn't solely due to what happened in the auditorium.

On our way here, we had witnessed it - the blatant discrimination.

'How can even the number of cameras be different?'

Even back in Hong Yeo-eun's time, there were rumors about competition programs only filming trainees predetermined to debut or doing special re-shoots.

It was surprising enough that these rumors were true, but to actually experience it ourselves...

The decisive moment came when we ran into 5th May Rookie again as they headed to the adjacent meeting room.

Despite having the same number of participants, they had about three times more cameras and a much livelier atmosphere.

Whether our team had too few cameras or they had too many, the members weren't naive enough to miss what this meant.

The already dampened spirits of our members completely died.

Of course, more cameras would make sense if they had more team members or were doing special content.

But 5th May Rookie had the same number of members and was doing the same task of choosing competition songs, so why?

'They say it was like this in the last competition too.'

It wasn't just Love Me Idol. Every time Unet held a competition program, there were issues with contestant discrimination.

It always stirred up subtle controversy until a Love Me Idol contestant exposed everything through YouTube, causing major news coverage.

Nevertheless, it seems Start Plan isn't much different from Love Me Idol.

Will we continue to experience these small disappointments?

"Hah..."

I let out a short, rueful sigh before speaking in a measured voice.

"Shouldn't we focus now?"

We can't help feeling hurt by the production team, but it would be a waste of time to stay dejected in this atmosphere.

"Ah."

"Oh! We need to focus!"

The members who had been spacing out started with surprise and lifted their heads.

"Ah, I was just thinking about what song would be good..."

"Does anyone have any ideas? Good songs?"

"Hmm..."

What song would be good? If it were our own song, I had quite a few in mind from thinking during filming breaks, but it's difficult having to choose someone else's song.

Especially for a team we don't know well.

It would be different if we had formed a decent impression of 5th May Rookie or had some conversation with them.

But all we had was that one-sided request-like comment from the auditorium earlier.

As for their image, we'd only seen their performance once in the first round.

They weren't like I Meet You or U&I who had left strong impressions on me both internally and externally.

My only impression of 5th May Rookie was that they were a skilled team from a major agency.

'But we can't just choose anything.'

Picking a random song without considering 5th May Rookie could make us look petty.

To appear honest and thoughtful in our selection, without any tricks...

What kind of song could only 5th May Rookie do?

Perhaps it would be better to choose songs from other SU artists.

Just as everyone was deep in thought, the writer who had been quietly observing the filming spoke up softly:

"Everyone, could I have your attention for a moment?"

"We have a gift to give you all."

In the writer's hand was a pink card envelope with [Special Prize] embossed in gold letters.