The week went by in flash.
Soo-Ha's plan to build up his stamina was only half successful.
This was because after the first shooting, all the fatigue from the past week had suddenly caught up to him.
It seemed that while mentally he suffered from no fatigue, the muscle strain and pain had all hit his body at once.
As a result, he had to stay under covers for 3 days.
After the fever passed, he had felt like he could devour a cow.
With the increase in appetite, he restarted practice and his exercise although at a lower clip than before.
Currently he was holding dumbbells as he watched Music Bank, as he continued to work hard.
[Siwon, did you enjoy Aiyu’s comback performance? I could not stop my feet from moving the entire time!]
[Uh... Siwon-ah wyas syo excyited that my heart skipped a beat, Aiyu-nim is really pretty too]
[Did you bite your tongue or something? Get a grip]
[Nyooo]
On the screen the pair of idol hosts, were putting on a fun yet wooden act as they were forced to read the cringey script.
[Siwon-ssi, let's get serious]
[Yes! Let’s get serious. Did you hear the news, Yuna-ssi?]
[What news]
[The news that all producers have been eagerly waiting for... Produce is back!]
[Wow]
[And we will show the preview now!]
Almost instantaneously, real time portal search engines, entertainment news pages and social media were destroyed.
[Producers get ready to make the idol group of your dreams!]
[Tonight, the star is you!]
The scene changes as the male figures shadow stands atop empty triparted stage, as the golden stage light behind him hides his face.
The camera slowly moves in as his features are revealed.
His dark hair, clear skin, charismatic eyes and long legs is indicative of his photogenic nature, that suits a former model come actor.
He is dressed in an all-black suit, while his dark hair is parted into a thin curtain giving him an air of professionalism and maturity.
[Hello national producers, I’m the national producers’ representative Lee Gong-wook
Starting from today, you will personally be producing the best idol global idol that will represent South Korea.
At the end of this journey, the trainees you can help are only 9 members.
Which members will you ultimately choose?
There are 101 trainees here.
Its …. Show time]
The camera pans back, this time revealing the members below as the studio lights up.
Each group separated by the multi-tiered layer of the stacking pyramid.
[101 trainees! Greet the national producers]
The members rehearsed voices blast out in unison
[National producers please take care of us!]
As they boy in sync, causing an explosion of pyrotechnics to shoot in the air, covering the scene in smoke as the electro intro begins to play.
[Who is the producers’ No. 1?
Please vote for your star!]
The scene cuts once more, with the MC now gone as the contestants begin their performance.
The interlude, is a group solo performed solely by the platinum grade participants.
It was short as it lasted less than 10 seconds but it was certainly impactful.
Soo-Ha focuses on the screen as the camera catches his face more than a few times.
‘Hm, it's not as bad as I thought.’
After the intro ends and the lyrics star playing, the gold grade members appear together with the platinum grade.
Thanks to the magic of editing, it looked amazingly natural.
When the pre-chorus started, the lighting changed and the silver grade contestants appeared, and at the beginning of the chorus, the bronze grade participants.
‘Oh’
It was passable.
The movement was perfect thanks to the ghostly hands of the editing team cutting off the moments where the choreography didn’t fit.
Soo-ha knew that this leeway was due to the performance being a promotional video rather than part of an official broadcast.
In a broadcast, you write a novel, a story, a tale of fiction with crescendos and lows. While in promotion/marketing, you only have enough time to make a tasty treat.
As a result, the comments sections of various forum boards looked favourable.
-Why is this song actually good?
-It’s another idol show, but the theme is actually catchy.
-What a tragedy, my kid is going to love this song. All parents, I wish you the best.
Whenever there was a close-up, there would be a flood of update.
-Such a young kid.... it’s a little uncomfortable.
-He almost tripped. Did you see that? Keekee
-He has good skills, but his face isn’t...
Of course, there were also some moments of admiration.
-Wow... that tall one is so good looking. Is he a model? Does anyone have any information?
-My Seung-woo. He is really the nation’s fairy's little brother. How is he so good!
-Daebak! Is that Jinsung-ah! I thought he was in America! Our baby is all grown up!
Whoever read the comments, came to the realise one thing.
That visuals mattered.
And a great deal at that.
Considering he had an innate A+ stat, he could not help but be thankful to his parents' genes once again.
Soo-Ha could feel the atmosphere in the gym grow silent as everyone was either looking at the at the stage on screen, or reading real-time comments.
Before he knew it the, the performance had come to an end.
What or who stood out the most was definitely, the former child actor.
Han Jinsung.
He could feel the will of the production team, trying to create a trending topic so they focused on him a few seconds longer.
‘Han Jinsung huh... how.... did you not debut?’