Growing Interest
"Thank you for letting us on stage and watching our performance."
In the adjacent room, the judges and staff continued staring ahead as if they had yet to absorb that the performance had ended. Then, when it finally sank in, they began to look around them, studying each other's reactions.
Drew let go of his pen. The sound it made when it dropped onto the floor shattered the delicate silence of the place. The producers immediately noticed his actions.
Shortly, the famous solo artist began to clap loudly. "Bravo. Bravo, good job, boys!"
Like a domino effect, the staff and producers regained their senses. One by one, they joined him in sincere claps for the Barren Landers. The applause was loud, thundering, and crisp.
"That was... wow." Producer Keys shook his head once and continued to clap.
Drew looked at him, laughed heartily, and dramatically said, "They brought gasoline and poured it all over the place. With my career on the line, I can swear that they did not do this in the mid-check!"
"They did not?" Keys was genuinely surprised.
"I only remember scolding them," Drew chuckled as he replied. "Actually, they changed some of the dance moves, and I should be scolding them again. But I just can't. Why would I? When they just slayed this performance so hard."
Thunderous claps once again arose. Drew's grin never left his face. He was beyond pleased and proud.
PD Song was also smiling broadly and nodding in approval. His slow and aged voice reverberated through the mic.
"You boys did great. It's just flawless and plain impressive. No words can describe how astonished we are. For the entire duration of this song, I thought I was watching an actual performance in a music show, that if you guys had worn proper stage outfits, it would have been a good concert stage."
The youths in gray trembled in shock and exchanged looks with each other. They could not contain their emotions as they foolishly one another if they heard correctly.
That PD Song? That producer who created KAISER's hits and later turned Nova into a giant corporation. A man like him, did he compliment them with a smile?
"Jun, am I dreaming?" Daeho was shaking when he turned to their leader.
That time, Jun was also quite shocked. He knew PD Song's temperament as he had occasionally interacted with the man when he was still an ETM member. In his time as a BOI participant, the producer rarely gave compliments, and the only person who got one was Sujin. After the BOI show ended, the PD would only compliment them if they, as ETM, won at a big award ceremony.
Jun glanced at his friends, who were very overwhelmed by emotions. Some were still crying, while the others were barely holding back their tears and smiles.
He held the mic that was passed by the MC and bowed.
Jun raised his face and sincerely said, "On behalf of the Landers, I humbly thank you for the positive reviews and kind feedback. Words are not enough for us to express how shocked and grateful we are. We promise to continue doing better to prove ourselves worthy of the encouragement you gave us."
PD Mariam said a few things that were also overwhelmingly positive before the Landers were told to return to the Barren Land building.
Like the Inhabitants, most could not remember how they safely made it back. However, contrary to their counterparts, the Landers were ecstatic, jumping, high-fiving, and yelling at the top of their lungs.
In reality, not all of them were great dancers or singers. Indisputably, the Greenhouse Inhabitants had better skills than them.
A part of them knew that the contrast between the two stages created this result.
Still, it did not stop them from feeling great and shedding tears. Why? Because none of them forgot the amount of effort they poured in and the hardships they faced to perfect the output they showed just now.
...
Regardless of the contestants' feelings, the show must go on.
The emcee faithfully carried out his role and announced the start of the voting session of the Greenhouse.
As Sujin and the others took turns entering the voting room, the producers and the others turned off their mics.
"Honestly, the Greenhouse has the best trainees. But the Barren Land has kids with both creativity and passion."
"For this round." Drew looked at Mariam.
The lady producer chuckled. "Yes, for this round." Clearly, Drew's hidden meaning came across.
Keys turned to PD Song. "Chairman, Jun surprised us again today. Has he always been this good?"
The middle-aged man pushed up his glasses. After seriously considering it, he gently shook his head and replied. "Jun was excellent even when he was still a Nova trainee. However, he has improved a lot, especially in expressions and singing. I never thought he would be a great leader, either. He used to be close to Juwon only, although he is the talkative type."
"Maybe the show's competitive format stimulated his hidden potential," the female producer concluded.
"How many years did he spend training under Nova?" Drew curiously asked.
"More than two years. Probably close to three years," answered PD Song.
"How about Sujin?"
The oldest guy in the room immediately replied, "Three years. Sujin was only ahead by three or so months."
Mariam, the executive producer of Nova's girl group ADAH, remembered something and spontaneously voiced it.
"When Jun sang that opening verse, the look and expressions he showed were just phenomenal, they made me feel goosebumps. I can't believe I saw that from somebody as young as him."
As long as they were not deaf and blind, it would be hard not to notice that part, especially the opening.
PD Song bobbed his head. There was a faint glimmer of interest and glee in his gaze, "I think that was the highlight of the performance. Even for me, it left a great impression."
The talk continued as they complimented the other trainees, who they thought had done well, until the subject changed to their prediction of the demoted. After that, they talked about which Lander participants to promote.
They quickly decided on the names when they saw that the voting had ended.
The emcee appeared again on the stage, and the screen showed the participants waiting in the lounge of the Greenhouse. Only white text on a black background showed on the Barren Land's side.
"I now have the results and tally of the votes." Lee Soo-Hyuk maintained a mysterious smile. "These are the participants to pack their bags and exit the Greenhouse for the Barren Lands."
-- 贈り物
が届きました 
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット