“Ah… but is it really nothing much, or am I just saying unnecessary things…?”
As the writer hesitated, Shin PD smiled brightly and said.
“Come on! You know I pay a lot of attention to small things~ Don’t hold back, just share it.”
“Then… alright. This is about something that happened in the team I was in…”
whisper whisper
The writer shared everything he saw in a small voice for everyone to hear.
And the expressions of those listening were…
“……”
“……”
Everyone had a strangely stiff look on their faces.
It wasn’t that what the writer said was absurd or irrelevant.
Rather…
‘It’s worth a shot…’
Everyone could feel that this was something they might want to try out.
But…
“ssip… that person might be a tough nut to crack…”
As Shin PD said, the issue was with the participant’s backing.
No matter how much the production team of Na Ah Ah was the king, there was still heaven and the gods above the king.
Touching that participant was like challenging the heavens from Na Ah Ah’s perspective, so it felt burdensome to meddle.
“…I think it’ll be tough to air that without a solid justification.”
“Ah… then should we just scrap it?”
“No? That can’t be right.”
Shin PD chuckled at the writer’s words and swept his hand behind his back.
“Let’s keep it for now. We can’t use it right away, but… won’t the day come when we can burst it out?”
The expression on Shin PD’s face looked quite mischievous.
Seeing Shin PD’s expression, the writers silently wished for the participant’s good luck.
That was… the look Shin PD got when he had a good idea.
“Anyway, let’s conclude that we’ll keep this… Is there any other idea for episode 3?”
“……”
“Geez, tsk tsk. Useless bunch. Well, I guess we’ll have no choice. For episode 3, let’s just focus on Yoo Seol and Ha Ye-rin’s rivalry and stick to team competitions for the rest.”
“…Yes!”
“Oh, by the way, how’s the voting status? Can we check?”
“Ah, yes, senior. I’ll show you in a moment.”
Naturally, since the first episode of Na Ah Ah aired, viewer voting had been ongoing.
The next week’s filming would start with the rank announcement, so the production team needed to get a grasp on the voting results for smooth filming.
“From here to the top 100…”
“I don’t care about below that, just show me from 10th place.”
“From 10th place… yes. Here it is.”
swish
At Shin PD’s request, the writer moved the screen to show the current ranks from 1 to 10.
“Oh, there are a lot of votes even though it’s still early? Nice, nice.”
Shin PD looked pleased and slowly checked the ranks from the bottom.
But….
pause
Just before flipping to the 1st and 2nd place pages, even he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Yoo Seol and Ha Ye-rin accounted for a staggering 40% of the entire vote share.
It was quite hard to predict who would take 1st place between those two.
And the result was…
“Oh…?”
By a hair, Yoo Seol was ahead of Ha Ye-rin.
Seeing who was in 1st place, Shin PD chuckled and shook his head.
“Well, should I say it’s just as I expected… or should I say it’s surprising…? Anyway, it’s fun.”
“Of course this isn’t set in stone. The results could change with this third broadcast.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Shin PD continued to smile as he looked at Ha Ye-rin’s face, currently ranked 2nd.
“Wow… who would have thought that a kid I never expected would be quite the prodigy… The world is unpredictable.”
“That’s true.”
Ha Ye-rin was a participant that was basically a parachute forced in by the advertisers.
Yet, seeing her shine like a gift from the heavens on broadcast must be quite impressive for him.
“I’d say, I have a feeling… Ha Ye-rin will win this Na Ah Ah.”
“…Huh? But senior, it’s still early in the broadcast, and Ha Ye-rin lacks trainee experience. Winning seems tough, right? Yoo Seol is…”
“Haha, I was just saying that for fun. Just joking.”
In reality, his recent statement was just a joke from Shin PD.
However, through that brief exchange, the writers could tell that Shin PD had a considerable affection for Ha Ye-rin.
‘Is PD-nim’s pick Ha Ye-rin?’
Shin PD’s pick.
That was no different from a poisoned chalice; how to utilize it was her responsibility.
“Okay, shall we wrap today’s meeting? Na Ah Ah episode 3 will have the same stance as episodes 1 and 2~ Now, shall we all head back to the editing room?”
“Thanks for your hard work.”
As Shin PD declared the end of the meeting, the production team began to rise from their seats and head back to the editing room.
Then someone courageously raised their hand.
“Um… Shin PD!”
“Hmm? What’s up?”
It was the youngest writer (newbie, female, 25 years old, graduated last year, no prior experience).
She couldn’t understand the situation as her seniors casually began heading toward the editing room, so she raised her hand.
“Um, it’s past midnight now, are we not going home?”
“……”
At the youngest’s comment about leaving, cold glares followed from the seniors, but Shin PD just chuckled and opened his mouth.
“Ahaha, youngest. Quitting, what in the world does that mean? We have the next broadcast coming up right away, and if we leave now, who’s going to edit and air the show?”
“Then… does that mean we’re working overtime today…?”
“Today? Haha, look at what you’re saying! Is this what the young generation is like… what do they call it again? Suddenly can’t remember?”
“MG generation.”
“Oh, right! MG! I guess that’s why you’re so free-spirited. Youngest, you should call home right now…”
Shin PD continued with a cheerful smile.
“Tell them to send you five days’ worth of underwear and socks right now.”
“……”
“It’s fine for outerwear, but if you don’t change your underwear regularly, it gets uncomfortable.”
In this way, the third episode of my Idol Academia was brought to life by the sweat of the production team who had stayed awake for four consecutive nights.
—
[Han Si-woo: Yes, that’s right. In the first team competition, your team is made up of those who chose the same sandwich.]
[……!!]
[Participants are stirred.]
Looking back, the team selection part was quite shocking.
I thought the sandwich was just simple PPL, but it turned out to be a device for team selection.
[Park Yoo-jung (Levi): Hey, sister! We…!]
[Lee Hye-jeong (Kidship): Yes, Ye-rin! Yoo-jung! We…!]
[Park Yoo-jung (Levi): Wow-!!! Mackerel Sandwich, hurray-!!!]
The screen captured me, Park Yoo-jung, and Lee Hye-jeong, joyfully celebrating having become a team.
I also looked at the viewer responses posted by Lee Ji-woo beside me.
– LOL
– “Those three have seemed a bit close for a while now.”
– “That weird mackerel sandwich really brought those three together.”
By the way, during the early parts of the broadcast, I received quite a bit of screen time due to the controversy over the mackerel sandwich.
[Q: Why did you choose a mackerel sandwich?]
[Ha Ye-rin (Brotherhood Planning): …Because it looked delicious.]
[Ha Ye-rin (Brotherhood Planning): It actually tastes good. I recommend it.]
– Gweeeeeek! Uweeeek!
– “Who’s the crazy person who thought of making a sandwich with mackerel…”
– “How can you love even a mackerel sandwich? It’s because you love Ye-rin.”
– “Ye-rin, when we get married, I’ll handle the cooking.”
– “No hate, mackerel sandwich is delicious; Ye-rin knows her food well.”
The mackerel sandwich was indeed tasty, but didn’t Seo Yoo-jin, who had an image of a rich daughter, also choose the mackerel sandwich?
[Q: Was the mackerel sandwich tasty?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): The flavor was pretty good. It was enjoyable.]
– “With both Ha Ye-rin and Seo Yoo-jin saying it’s delicious, advertising sponsors are happy.”
– “Tomorrow, I’m going to try having mackerel sandwiches at YuraChacha.”
– “I heard their family is rich? Considering Seo Yoo-jin said it’s good, it must be real.”
The mackerel sandwich, chosen by the two girls! What kind of taste could it have? The production team tried it themselves.
[After taking a bite.]
[Production Team: …Wow, that’s delicious. As expected, YuraChacha Sandwich.]
[So they say.]
– “It looks expressionless and really unappetizing, huh? LOL”
– “Advertising sponsors weep.”
– “Ha Ye-rin and Seo Yoo-jin say it’s tasty, but the ugly kid seems picky about her taste.”
[The Mackerel Sandwich Team, united by unique tastes!]
[Two participants who were both A Rank?]
Strictly speaking, with Lee Hye-jeong, who was originally A Rank, combined, our team had almost three A ranks.
Looking back now, I was pretty lucky with my team.
Did the viewers also feel this way? Their reactions in the comment section erupted with admiration.
– “Wow… but Ha Ye-rin and Seo Yoo-jin too? This team looks amazing ㄷㄷ”
– “Plus, there’s Park Yoo-jung, Lee Hye-jeong, and, um… the others!”
– “What incredible luck!”
– “This is the connection made by the mackerel sandwich!”
However, as viewer expectations grew, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
It was precisely because of the scenes about leader and center rankings right after song selection.
‘That time, it was pretty unlikable when Yoo-jin was saying she would do both leader and center…’
How exactly would the production team edit that…?
I continued watching, unable to shake off my nervousness.
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