Star Maker Chapter 74

The six-member boy group Jesco was the most popular team among all the groups participating in Idol War.

Because of that, it wasn’t easy for other groups to beat Jesco in team-versus-team battles.

It wasn’t just that their fandom was powerful.

Jesco was already in its sixth year—an enduring group that had continued its career without much scandal or noise. They were a solid, reliable team.

That meant Jesco had many hidden advantages like likeability, familiarity, and approachability—factors that weren’t immediately visible.

If the quality of the songs was similar, the public would unconsciously think, “I feel like Jesco’s song is better?”

But in the unit mission, things were different.

The unit mission wasn’t about group popularity—it was about musicianship.

“Why? Even if they’re split up, they’re still all Jesco members, aren’t they?”

“It’s not the familiar picture anymore. Once that sense of familiarity is broken, those unconscious advantages start to disappear. Not entirely, but still.”

“Even so, wouldn’t it be fine if the Jesco fandom just voted for Jesco A and B units?”

“Idol War isn’t some show pulling 3 or 4% ratings. In the end, it’s the neutral viewers who decide the votes.”

“So you’re saying the fandom means nothing?”

“That’s not it. The fandom’s power can turn a 49–51 into a 51–49, and real-time voting results can influence how viewers decide.”

Listening to the conversation between much more senior and junior floor directors, Seon-ho kept his eyes on Jesco’s performance on screen.

Jesco had chosen the classic approach.

They split their six members evenly into two groups of three.

In contrast, A.S.A.P made a bit of a gamble.

A.S.A.P, a six-member hip-hop idol group, had two vocalists and four rappers.

They chose to split based on roles.

Unit A had the two vocalists, while Unit B had the four rappers.

In Seon-ho’s opinion, it seemed like A.S.A.P had been planning this kind of unit for a while.

You could usually tell how long a song had been in preparation just by listening to it, and A.S.A.P’s song sounded like it had been in the works for a while.

The result of the clash between Jesco Unit A and A.S.A.P Unit B was…

—

A.S.A.P Unit B! 362 votes!

Jesco Unit A! 131 votes!

Seven of you did not vote, so those are counted as invalid ballots!

—

Out of the 500 audience judges, 362 had sided with A.S.A.P.

—

But of course, it’s not over yet.

We’ll tally the final result by adding viewer votes from Wednesday, the broadcast day, until Friday at 6 p.m.!

—

Some of the staff, hearing the voice of the main MC Jo Junseok of Idol War, voiced their disappointment.

“They should’ve just ended it with the audience panel vote. Now we won’t know the results even if we watch the main broadcast.”

“Exactly. It’s frustrating.”

But the more experienced staff and the PDs preparing their own programs thought differently.

“That’s exactly why people will tune in next week. Because they want to know what happens.”

“Besides, for vote-based shows, it’s easy for people watching replays or reruns to lose interest. They feel like it’s already over. But not with Idol War.”

“Because replay viewers can still vote?”

“Exactly. As long as they don’t know the outcome ahead of time, the moment they’re watching feels like a live broadcast.”

“There’s a reason Idol War is number one on IPTV replays. Even reruns hit 4–5% ratings easily.”

“This format is genius. I feel like it’s going to be a huge trend.”

“You can bet the next survival show will borrow this idea.”

Since everyone at the get-together was in the industry, the conversation ran deep.

But the conclusion was unanimous.

Idol War was insanely fun.

In the meantime, the battle between Jesco (B) and Soul Mate (A) had ended.

Jesco’s B Unit took 390 votes, overwhelmingly defeating Soul Mate’s A Unit, who only managed 109.

With this, Jesco’s live audience vote record stood at one win and one loss.

Next was A.S.A.P (A) vs. Soul Mate (B), and in a tight battle, Soul Mate pulled ahead.

Soul Mate Unit B got 255 votes, while A.S.A.P Unit A got 242.

In the end, Jesco, A.S.A.P, and Soul Mate each had one win and one loss.

“This feels like a World Cup group stage.”

“Now this makes voting exciting.”

“All that’s left is Personal Color and the two Dream Girls matches, right? Who’s gonna win?”

“Momentum-wise, it’s Personal Color. Hasn’t Dream Girls always made some mistake every time?”

“Yeah, Personal Color has the momentum… but the unit combination is…”

A female staff member, about to say something, glanced at An Jia and stopped herself.

Seon-ho had a good idea of what she wanted to say.

The unit composition feels shaky.

Why would they build Personal Color’s Unit B with only Jia?

That was it.

And she likely wasn’t the only one thinking it.

Had Seon-ho, Jia, and Manager Kwon Hosan not been on site, there probably would have been a fierce debate over why MOK made such a choice.

But there was only one thing Seon-ho could say about it.

Because he trusted Jia.

Because he believed Jia would win.

Depending on the result, it could end up being a foolish decision—or a stroke of genius.

And Seon-ho believed it would be the latter.

As Personal Color Unit A took the stage, the camera tilted up from the members’ feet to their heads.

Then, one by one, it zoomed in on the faces of Baek Songyi, Riha, Teiji, and Woochan.

Their faces were filled with tension they couldn’t hide.

But they weren’t overwhelmed by it.

Rather, they looked like they were enjoying it.

At that moment, the screen switched to a full shot and a lively instrumental intro began to play.

The song making its world debut was Not a Joke, composed by Prefer and written by Woochan.

Not a Joke was about the sweet confusion of young love—what people today call a “some” relationship.

The lyrics had the members casually tossing out lines that were easy to misinterpret as the song progressed.

—

Do you like cherry blossom festivals?

Or maybe amusement parks,

If you don’t like rides,

How about the zoo?

—

In response to Teiji’s question, Riha shot back:

—

What’s that supposed to mean?

Are you saying you want

To go to those places

With me?

—

To that, Teiji gave an awkward smile and answered:

—

What are you talking about?

I just asked, no hidden meaning.

Don’t overthink it.

It’s just a joke.

As the song progressed, the stage background changed.

From a spring showered in cherry blossoms to a summer lush with greenery.

From the full green of summer to the falling leaves of autumn.

In between, the four men and women awkwardly tossed ambiguous words to one another.

Cherry blossom viewing.

Summer vacation.

Autumn foliage trip.

Winter beach.

Questions about things they wanted to do together, fitting each season and situation, continued.

However, whenever the other person asked what the question meant, the answer was always, “It’s just a joke.”

Everyone couldn’t help but smile warmly—or with nostalgia—at the youthful, innocent exchanges between the four.

Originally, Seon-ho didn’t like songs where parts were constantly switched between members, but “Not a Joke” was a song with frequent part changes.

Still, they didn’t cut off verses or throw in four-bar fragment raps.

Instead, they switched parts without fully closing off the previous lines.

This kind of attempt could feel incomplete, even risky.

But Seon-ho expressed that incompleteness through shyness and awkwardness.

And the members of Personal Color grasped Seon-ho’s intent perfectly.

The seemingly endless awkward and shy exchanges began to shift at the chorus.

The words you just said—

What do they mean?

To Baek Songyi’s question, Woochan answered,

“It’s just a jok—”

But just as he was about to finish, the verse looped back to the beginning.

Baek Songyi asked again,

“What did you mean by that?”

“It’s just a jok—”

Once again, Woochan couldn’t finish his answer.

The song that had filled the entire stage suddenly vanished.

A brief, one-second silence.

Breaking that silence was Woochan’s firmly resolved expression.

A crisp snare drum.

An accelerated guitar rhythm.

And then—

Not a joke—

It was the chorus sung by Teiji and Woochan, an addictive melody.

Not a joke—

Everything I’ve said so far

Because I’m clumsy,

Because I’m shy,

Everything I’ve hidden

Not a joke—

Everything I’ve said in front of you

Because I was afraid you would reject me,

Because I was scared,

Everything I’ve hidden

In response to the chorus from Teiji and Woochan came a reply from Baek Songyi and Riha.

The four men and women, singing the chorus with radiant smiles, looked so fresh and heart-fluttering.

Naturally, the ones whose hearts fluttered were the viewers.

“Oh wow, oh wow.”

“So cute…”

One of the smiling staff said,

“Personal Color really knows how to touch people’s emotions.”

“Right? During ‘Autumn Leaf’ they made us think of heartbreaking past loves, and now they’re making us remember our first love.”

“This is amazing. Seriously.”

“Come on, the real game-changer was ‘Vivid’! That song grabbed Personal Color by the collar and dragged them back to the surface!”

“You should become a star.”

“The lyrics were written so well too.”

“Didn’t Woochan write the lyrics for this?”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah, I saw his name listed under lyricist when the song info came up at the beginning.”

“Wow… Woochan really had that kind of talent?”

At that moment, someone asked Jia, who had been silently watching the TV without moving.

“Jia, did Prefer also make your song?”

“Yes. Prefer and Seon-ho oppa made it together. The two of them.”

“Oh…! Team Prefer.”

The staff’s admiration continued endlessly.

At the same time, a few people had serious expressions and were whispering among themselves—Hainmel’s music director, PD Wi Taewon, and writer Min Heeyoung.

“This would be amazing to insert as an OST in episode 12, don’t you think? The lyrics fit the lines perfectly too.”

“I was thinking the same thing…”

“What’s the line, writer?”

“‘I’m not joking right now. I’m not playing around like yesterday!’ That one.”

“Really? It fits so well it’s like it was written for it.”

“Exactly.”

Their conversation continued on like that.

Meanwhile, Personal Color Unit A’s performance of “Not a Joke” had come to an end.

A pleasant favourable wind seemed ready to carry Personal Color even farther than Seon-ho had planned.

Immediately after Personal Color Unit A’s stage ended, Dream Girls Unit A’s performance began.

The members of Dream Girls shown on screen were visibly tense.

Of course, Personal Color had also been nervous.

But while Personal Color thrived on that nervousness, Dream Girls were crushed by it.

Personal Color had endured a long drought of three years, thirsting for the stage and the cheers.

So they had the strength to charge straight toward the sweet oasis that waited beyond their nerves.

But Dream Girls had already gained popularity through cable TV before debut, and their debut song had immediately become a top contender.

They needed time to shed their arrogance.

“Watching them on set, I used to think they were annoyingly lucky… but seeing them like this, it kind of makes me feel bad,” said Manager Kwon Hosan, watching Dream Girls’ hands trembling slightly.

Dream Girls, who had looked unstable the whole time, eventually made a mistake.

The mistake snowballed like a domino effect, collapsing their teamwork. One mistake led to another, and then another.

They started to pull themselves together during the chorus, but by then it seemed unlikely they could beat Personal Color.

‘The song itself wasn’t bad though…’

That was Seon-ho’s impression as he kept his eyes on the screen.

It was almost time to reveal the live voting results from the 500-member audience jury that had stunned everyone.

—Please show us the voting results.

At MC Jo Junseok’s cue, the score display on the stage began to light up.

Moments later, astonishment filled Personal Color’s faces, while devastation swept over Dream Girls.

478 to 22.

That was the score difference between Personal Color Unit A and Dream Girls Unit A.

“Well, they definitely secured one win.”

“That song was just too good. I think ‘Not a Joke’ is going to be a massive hit.”

“Same. ‘Vivid’ had huge impact because of the backstory, but I think ‘Not a Joke’ is going to perform way better on the music charts.”

“If Dream Girls win this next one, wouldn’t that make all five teams 1 win and 1 loss each? Then what happens?”

“They said they’ll total the scores of both units to decide the overall winner.”

“That’s going to get complicated.”

“So now the only performances left are…”

Only Personal Color Unit B and Dream Girls Unit B’s stages remained.

Since Dream Girls Unit B had lost in rock-paper-scissors, their performance began first.

As the song began to play…

“Ooh!”

“Wow, what the—this is no joke!”

The staff burst into gasps of admiration and surprise.

TL : The funniest part of this chapter is the lyrics, bro.  Like, I can’t seem to play those lyrics in my mind without the music.